The Goldster Conversations Podcast: Recent Episodes
The Goldster Podcast
On the Goldster Conversations Podcast you hear captivating interviews with best-selling authors, intrepid explorers, former spies and international sports people. We have different shows – Inside Story, Purpose, Passion and Grit, and Author to Author.
Biographer and descendant of Charles Dickens, Lucinda Hawksley; Journalist, thriller writer and Lucinda’s distant cousin, Humphrey Hawksley; Polar explorer Rosie Stancer; and international cricketer and rugby player, Alistair Hignell. We would love to meet you.
Goldster is a compelling new vision that throughout the day brings together physical exercise, mental stimulation and emotional awareness. Our aim is to help everyone stay as healthy, active and involved as can be with sessions range from Tai Chi to Creative Writing, from Singing to Art and much more. Central to all that Goldster does is the legendary Goldster Book Club that is winning plaudits and attention from all around the world.
By joining Goldster you can be part of the live conversation asking our guests directly any question you want -- about their failures, successes and what drives them. So far we have talked to best-selling authors, Ian Rankin, Ely Griffiths and Adele Parks; acclaimed historians, adventurers and travel writers Roger Morehouse, Justin Marozzi and Odd Harald Hague; eagle-eyed commentators, Parag Khanna, Tim Marshall and Geoff Payne; The list goes on.
Join in the Goldster Book Club conversation.
We may think of ‘globalism’ as a recent development, but its origins date back centuries, when courageous seafarers pioneered routes across the oceans with the objectives of exploration, trade and profits. Improvements in ship design, compasses and mapping, enabled navigation across unprecedented distances. The embarkation points were the vibrant ports of the West – Venice, Amsterdam, Lisbon – and their destinations the exotic ports of the East – Malacca, Goa, Bombay – where they tracked down the elusive spices.
This development of maritime communication brought benefits apart from culinary delights: the spread of ideas on art, literature and science. But it was not beneficial for everyone concerned: colonial ambitions could be disastrous for local populations who were often exploited as labour.
Author and journalist, Nick Nugent gives a fascinating insight into this period of the maritime spice trade with stories of how famous ports were developed, what damage was caused and what benefits came out of it that feed into our current system of global supply chains that cross continents to bring us our food, clothes and more.
George Mehok is an exciting mix between thriller author, software designer and angel investor for new companies working on the edge of our technological revolution. His debut novel, Going Dark, skillfully keeps us on the edge of our seats. He weaves today’s most challenging issues with threads back to 1791 and a secret military unit tasked with delivering a secret message to Thomas Jefferson that altered the trajectory of the War of Independence against Britain.
In Going Dark, that same secret unit, generations later, is tasked with an equally pivotal mission. George feeds into his story-telling real-life experiences working with banks, phone companies, the aerospace industry and more, injecting them with innovations that win George and his team awards. The constant theme is how technology whether in the 2020s or 1790s has been pivotal in shaping out history, such that George will also be talking about powerful figures like Elon Musk and Donald Trump. How did they get to be where they are today.
To find out more about what makes the world tick in the way it does, if you have business idea seeking investment, or simply want to meet the author who could become the next great thriller writer of his generation, join George with Humphrey Hawksley on the Goldster Magazine Show Podcast.
TJ Halbertsma is the living equivalent of Superman – one moment Clark Kent; in a suit and tie, commuting to work in an office, in his own words, “just an ordinary guy”. Next, spinning through an imaginary revolving door and you find the same person achieving extraordinary feats. From climbing some of the most notoriously dangerous mountains such as the Eiger and Denali, to crossing the English Channel on a stand-up paddleboard, walking to both Poles and ‘escaping’ from Alcatrez.
Success hasn’t always come easily and the author extols the virtues of grit, resilience and commitment. In his book,‘Many Worlds to Conquer’, this remarkable dutchman recounts some of these true life adventures and, in his humility as ‘an ordinary guy doing extraordinary things’, makes his stories all the more inspiring, thrilling – and, relatable.
The term ‘rat-race’ was coined long before we had smartphones and social media. It has even more meaning today when we’re at risk of becoming rats in a worldwide laboratory, monitored and manipulated by technology giants and artificial intelligence. Therefore, it is even more important to take control of our own minds father than let other do it for you. Michael Hutchinson shows the way through yoga, with a combination of bodywork, breathwork and attention, a concept often referred to as mindfulness.
Michael trained under a late renowned teacher, TKV Desikachar in the 1980s when yoga was just beginning to be recognised in the West. He abandoned a successful career in physics to concentrate on teaching and building awareness of the benefits of yoga. His book, Breath for Health, is based on over thirty years of training and practice. Michael has taught breathing several times at the annual World Yoga Festival and is well-respected for his sensitive approach to the needs of people who are hesitant about working with their breath. He is also Chair of British Council for Yoga Therapy.
Craig Brown’ latest book A Voyage Around the Queen not only became an immediate best-seller, but also gathered praise for being a unique, deep and thought-provoking portrayal of the late Queen Elizabeth and the monarchy. Craig is best known as a humourist for Private Eye and the Mail whose tools of the trade are usually sharp lines and throwaway wisecracks. Craig has written eighteen books including Ma’am Darling: 99 Glimpses of Princess Margaret and One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time where he wraps his satirist’s eyes around the iconic treasures of our age.
In A Voyage Around the Queen, we learn how Dirk Bogarde watched Death in Venice with her; Andy Warhol envied her fame; Donald Trump offended her, and E.M. Forster confessed he would have married her, if only she had been a boy. “Though by nature reserved and unassuming, her presence could fill presidents and rock gods with terror.
For close to a century, she inhabited the psyche of a nation,” Craig writes. On Princess Margaret, he says, “Andy Warhol photographed her. Jack Nicholson offered her cocaine. Gore Vidal revered her. John Fowles hoped to keep her as his sex-slave. Dudley Moore propositioned her. Francis Bacon heckled her. Peter Sellers was in love with her.”
With great panache, Kim Lengling explains hope, kindness, fear and that slate of emotions that weave their way through all our lives. Her podcast is called Let Fear Bounce. Among her many books are Nuggets of Hope: Cultivate Kindness and Paw Prints on the Couch: How Pets Enrich Lives. Her office manager is called Dexter, a loyal hound who barks at squirrels and birds and remind the boss when to take a break. Very often that will be to appear as a guest on the Voices for Vets show of her local radio.
One of Kim’s missions is to explain how kindness can be a beacon of hope and connection in a world overshadowed by stress and uncertainty. She speaks compellingly about the transformative power of kindness with the maxim: It costs nothing to be kind, and its rewards are immeasurable. She swears by the positive impact that animals have on our sense of wellbeing and fulfilment. With Kim, discover how to turn everyday moments into opportunities for spreading joy. Learn how small gestures, like a smile or a helping hand, can create ripples of positivity that extend far beyond their initial impact, touching lives you may never know.
Kim’s mission is clear: to inspire you to make your slice of the world a better place, one act of kindness at a time.
Dr Orit Gal is an entrepreneur, advisor, and senior lecturer in Strategy & Complexity at Regent’s University London. She specialises in analysing trends and identifying potential for systemic change within complex environments. Her extensive experience includes collaborations with tech startups, non-government organisation, innovative policy think-tanks, and corporate market research. Her current research focuses on the future of cities, exploring the interplay between technological efficiency, social friction, and the inherent serendipity of urban life. Having the opportunity to closely observe decision-makers operating in messy, dynamic, and highly complex environments, she has focused her work on exploring the intersection between complexity science and operational design.
Her website is called Social Acupuncture which explains and teaches Complexity Science, with a mission to break down obstacles and push through change. Whether running a city, an organisation, or a social campaign, the greatest challenges standing in your way are always complex, says Orit. Involving numerous players and constrained by multiple interdependent forces, they form systemic patterns that are seemingly impossible to break. Tackling them requires creative new approaches that not only address their complex nature but are uniquely designed to take advantage of it.
Mihir Bose face and voice became known to millions after he won the job as the BBC’s first non-white sports editor building on his earlier reputation as a sports correspondent on The Telegraph and Sunday Times. Among his latest books is Thank You Mr Crombie – a tribute to the Home Office official who allowed him to settle in Britain and pursue his career and dream. Mihir compellingly tells how Britain has taken enormous strides to create a multi-racial society since the days in the Sixties when landlords refused to rent him a room.
Another recent book is Dreaming the Impossible: The Battle to Create a Non-Racial Sports World. His characters run from players and coaches to boardroom executives in a fascinating story which takes us deeply inside the world of sport giving us glimpses that we would never see on Match of the Day.
There is very little Mihir does not know about the money, the sweat, manipulation and how sport binds people and communities together.
Angela van Breemen is a soprano soloist, a poet, a wildlife activist and she has just published her first novel. For those Goldster creative writers, how does that feel? Past Life’s Revenge is a crime thriller with a twist of surrealism. Since childhood, David Harris has suffered from debilitating nightmares. He has sought the advice of psychiatrists and other health professionals without obtaining any relief. When he meets an attractive young psychic, Emma Jackson, she encourages him to seek the help of her friend Anna Tungsten, a hypnotherapist. As the story unfolds from here, David realises he had to exact revenge and stop a murderer from killing again. Angela has recently released her first album In the Breezewith lyrics drawn from her poetry. But how does anyone blend a love for dark psychological drama with the melody of Celtic music. And if the red squirrel is the most endangered and the Scottish Wildcat the rarest species in Britain, what are their counterparts in Ontario, Canada.
No, the world is not broken. Gloom can be conquered. As for those headline stories about the young going astray, homelessness, prison overcrowding, come and meet Goldster’s light that shines through fog. The charity work of the magnificent and bubbly Eva Hamilton stretches from Mother Teresa’s Home for the Dying in Calcutta when she was in her twenties to founding Key4Life which helps thousands serving time in some of Britain’s most dangerous prisons. Eva and her colleagues have turned around lives of the most vulnerable young men, many raised without a father and challenged by poor mental health. Her methods include therapy with horses which she brings inside prisons and immediately sees how young prisoners calm and form relationships with them. In earlier work, she set up the Seeing is Believing programme with HRH The Prince of Wales, (now HM King Charles), and took six hundred of Britain’s top business leaders into deprived inner-city areas. Her mission – to persuade businesses to employ the less privileged in our society. Eva’s success jumps out of grim statistics. The national rate of reoffending among released prisoners is 64%. Among those who join Eva’s programmes, it is just 7%.
On 12 November, Lucinda Hawksley will be joined on the Goldster Magazine Show by Laura Payne, host of the highly-acclaimed The Dreamboat Podcast. Laura, a psychotherapist with a passion for uncovering the mysteries of our minds, has become one of the leading voices in dream research. The Dreamboat Podcast explores the fascinating world of dreams, delving deep into the science, psychology, and personal stories behind what happens when we close our eyes at night.
From lucid dreaming to recurring nightmares, The Dreamboat Podcast invites listeners to explore the deeper meanings of their nightly adventures, showing how dreams can be a window into our emotions, desires, and fears. Their interviews with leading psychologists, neuroscientists, and sleep experts are enlightening, making the world of dreams accessible to all.
Laura is a member of the Dream Research Institute in London, dedicated to studying how dreams impact our waking lives. If you're curious about the power of your subconscious and want to learn how to harness your dreams, let Laura Payne be your guide! Join Lucinda and Laura on Goldster as we dive into the dream world.
Austin Williams is an architect, author and podcaster who imagines our society and cities far into the future. For many years he has worked closely with Baroness Claire Fox at the Academy of Ideas, organising regular weekend-long events of debate, argument and fun. He is frequently a contradictory voice on a range of issues from climate change, sustainability and development. As one critic noted, "Austin Williams has a gift for lobbing well-directed grenades."
Much of Austin’s latest writing has been examining how China is building cities and societies. His books include New Chinese Architecture: Twenty Women Building the Future and China’s Urban Revolution on how China is pioneering the concept of the eco-city. Austin is also a book lover who runs the Bookshop Barnie discussions at the famous Foyle’s bookshop in Charing Cross Road. These salon type discussions challenge the author to justify their work in front of an invited audience of specialists and critics. Unlike most book launches where the most challenging task for the author is to sign so many autographs, Bookshop Barnies force them to take a stand for their ideas. Among his guests have been Peter Hitchens, David Goodhart and David Aaronavitch.
“A terrific overview of Japan’s long and rich history that covers an astonishing amount of ground. A gem of a book that is as engaging as it is readable.” Peter Frankopan
This week on the Goldster Magazine Show, Lucinda Hawksley will be joined by author Lesley Downer who will take us on a captivating journey into the heart of one of Asia’s most enigmatic countries, via her latest book, The Shortest History of Japan.
Zen, haiku, martial arts, sushi, anime, manga, film, video games ... Japanese culture has long enriched our Western way of life. Yet from a Western perspective, Japan remains a remote island country that has long had a complicated relationship with the outside world. Lesley’s previous books, including The Shogun’s Queen, The Courtesan and the Samurai, and Geisha: The Secret History of a Vanishing World, offered unique insights into a little-understood world, and with this latest title, Lesley delves even deeper into Japan’s fascinating past.
Even at the nearest point, Japan – an archipelago strung like a necklace around the Asian mainland – is considerably farther from Asia than Britain is from mainland Europe. The sea provides an effective barrier against invasion and has enabled the culture to develop in unique and distinctive ways. During the Edo period, the Tokugawa shoguns successfully closed the country to the West. After Japan opened up to the world again, it swung in the opposite direction, adopting Western culture wholesale. Both these strategies enabled it to avoid colonization, one of the very few non-Western countries to do so, and to retain its traditions and way of life.
Peter Abrahams is fascinated in the human body. As a young man he worked with the Peace Corp in the jungles of Sarawak, went on to train as a doctor, planned to become a surgeon but got side-tracked into writing a ground-breaking book, praised by his medical peers: Clinical Anatomy of Practical Procedures. He has taught and researched around the world, a pioneer in explaining how our body is pieced together. His work includes an Apple App, Aspects of Anatomy, used worldwide by medical students and doctors. He has been designing 3D anatomy for downloading onto mobile phones as well as doing 3D printing of human prosected specimens to preserve detailed knowledge for generations to come. He used his intricate knowledge of the human body to co-curate two exhibitions for the Royal collection
Leonardo – Mechanics of Man at the Palace of Holyrood in Edinburgh and Leonardo- anatomist at Buckingham Palace in London. He was also invited by the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge to help assess a collection of bronze statues believed to be the work of Michaelangelo. From there, he carried out the first ever in-depth scientific analysis of the anatomy of Michelangelo’s nude figures and made an anatomically labelled 3D video film for the exhibition. Peter’s latest book is the more down-to-earth TheHuman Body Colouring Book: Human Anatomy in 215 Illustrations for twelve-year-olds and over. How do our bodies work? How do all our bits fit together.
How do we place a value on happiness? Can we measure our sense of well-being and fulfilment through science? Richard Layard is founder and former director of the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics. He has been editor of the annual World Happiness Report which examines the state of happiness at various stages of life. Richard’s latest co-authored book is Wellbeing: Science and Policy which uses science to establish what matters most to us. The book shows how well-being can be scientifically measured, what creates it and how feeling good it can be made even better throughout the whole span of human life. In 2011, he launched a campaign called Action for Happiness, asking the question: Why can’t we all be more content? And he takes on politicians who consistently argue that people are mainly interested in the economy and their incomes.
“It’s not the economy, stupid,” he argues. “It’s people’s wellbeing.” Richard is campaigning for a shift in how public money is spent, balancing what makes people feel good against what they believe are their material needs. “We can be happier if our individual aim is to make others happy,” he says. “Let each of us be, as best we can, a creator of happiness.” Can you measure your own happiness? Does it matter?
To find out join the Goldster Magazine Show with Professor Lord Layard and Humphrey Hawksley
Psychotherapist Jennifer Cox believes that women are never allowed to truly express their anger, and this is making them ill. After a lifetime of being told to repress it, to hide away and fear it, anger has begun to manifest in female bodies in myriad ways that cannot be controlled. Do you agree? Jennifer has drawn her conclusions from talking to women from all walks of life and ages in her work as a therapist. The tendency of women to shrug off anger and not make a fuss is dangerous because an autoimmune condition ravages and, she witnesses the devastation daily. The symptoms include anxiety, depression, migraine and depression. Women are twice as likely as men to suffer depression and three times more likely to experience migraines. “Anger is eating us up, from the inside out,” she writes.
“We’ve been conditioned not to recognise our rage, so it burns behind the scenes. And from there, it’s destroying us.” Last year, Jennifer founded the Women and Mad movement which gained more then 10,000 followers in the first six months. Are you angry? How do you identify it? And what do you do about it?
To find out from a true, charismatic expert in this alarming issue join Jennifer Cox with Humphrey Hawksley on the Goldster Magazine Show...
Until last year, Professor Alf Collins was NHS England’s Clinical Director for personalised care. His mission in health and well-being is to build around an individual’s needs bringing in shared decision-making, care planning, self-management support, social prescribing and that Goldster concept of ‘rethinking medicine.” Alf worked for a decade with the Health Foundation, helping lead applied research and implementation programmes in person-centred care.
He has researched and written widely on the changing the relationship between patients and healthcare professionals and he led on the NHS’s implementation of ‘Universal Personalised Care’ one of key initiatives to change thinking in the way we view our health. Alf has also been a community consultant for many years in pain management. How can we best live with chronic pain? Alf has honorary fellowships from the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of General Practitioners and is a Visiting Professorship in Healthcare Policy at Coventry University.
Iain McGilchrist is a leading psychiatrist with a vast body of work and connections around the world. In his latest book The Matter with Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions, and the Unmaking of the World, Iain asks blunt questions that rattle around in many of our minds. Who are we? What is the world? How can we understand consciousness, matter, space and time? Is the cosmos without purpose or value? Can we really neglect the sacred and divine? He knows how different sides of our brain work to feed into what is our character, our emotions and each of us as a person. He is committed to the idea that the mind and brain can be understood only by seeing them in the broadest possible context, that of the whole of our physical and spiritual existence, and of the wider human culture in which they arise – the culture which helps to mould, and in turn is moulded by, our minds and brains.
Philip Pullman named The Matter with Things as his book of the year. And the questions keep coming: Is the world essentially inert and mechanical – nothing but a collection of things for us to use? Are we ourselves nothing but the playthings of chance, embroiled in a war of all against all? Why, indeed, are we engaged in destroying everything that is valuable to us? Join The Goldster Magazine Show for this fascinating conversation when Humphrey Hawksley will be talking to Iain McGilchrist at 1pm UK time on Tuesday August 13th 2024.
“My son’s death will never make sense to me. But it has taught me that it’s possible to find meaning, collectively and individually, in the loss of what we love.” Liz Jensen
On 3 September, Lucinda Hawksley was joined by Liz Jensen, the best-selling author of eight novels including The Ninth Life of Louis Drax, which was adapted by Hollywood into a box-office feature film starring Jamie Dornan. Before becoming a full-time novelist, Liz Jensen was a print and radio journalist in Hong Kong and Taiwan. She then spent four years as a freelance writer, translator and sculptor in France, and ten years as a BBC producer.
Liz, who lives in Copenhagen, has been short-listed for the Guardian Fiction Award, nominated three times for the Women’s Fiction prize, and has had her work adapted for theatre and radio, and translated into twenty languages. Much of her work revolves around the environment and impact of climate change. She is a founder member of Extinction Rebellion’s Writers Rebel, a literary movement which includes writers such as Margaret Drabble, Ben Okri, Amitav Ghosh and Zadie Smith.
Four years ago, Liz’s life changed in an instant, with the devastating loss of her son, Raph. Known to many by the name of Iggy Fox, Raph was a leading figure of Extinction Rebellion. Following his unexpected death while filming an environmental campaign in South Africa, Liz abandoned the novel she was working on and wrote a book about grief. She will be discussing Your Wild and Precious Life: on grief, hope and rebellion on Goldster.
Join Liz and Lucinda Hawksley to find out how, after Raph’s death, Liz rebuilt herself, reoriented her life and rediscovered the enchantment of the living world. Your Wild and Precious Life is set against the backdrop of climate and ecological catastrophe, it’s an argument for agency, legacy and the wild possibility of hope after devastation.
We rely on our doctors as a first port of call if we feel sick or down and, very often, the last port of call toward life’s end for ourselves or our loved ones. But what is really going through our doctors’ minds? How do they cope with the stress and trauma in their everyday working lives?
Betsy Gall is a widow who was once living the American dream. Married to an oncologist with three healthy children, she was living a great life. That all changed on Thanksgiving Day of 2019 when her husband took his own life. Dr Matthew Taylor Gall who had devoted his entire life to saving lives, was dead at the young age of 49. Outwardly, Matthew had always been the life and soul of the party, holding everything together. From her loss, Betsy wrote The Illusion of the Perfect Profession, drawn from her diaries and her journey with faith throughout her horrific traumatic experience that left her family shattered and asking: How could Matthew’s suicide ever have happened?
Betsy discovered that doctors’ suicides is becoming a trend. In America, up to four hundred physicians kill themselves every year. In Britain, 72 medical professionals (including doctors, nurses, therapy professionals, dentists and midwives) took their own lives in 2020 – that is more than one per week. Are we asking too much from our doctors? Can we detect when they are facing a breakdown? Join Betsy Gall with Humphrey Hawksley to discuss this sad, yet incredibly important issue on Goldster Magazine Show.
Sarah Stacey is one of the most knowledgeable and connected journalists in the field of health and well-being. Back in the 1990s, she detected a paradigm shift in healthcare toward lifestyle, nutrition and generally healthier living that prevented sickness rather than tackle it once it took grip. First at the Telegraph, as long-time health editor of the Mail-on-Sunday and at the Express, Sarah reported on how patients’ health concerns were often triggered by non-medical factors; housing, debt, loneliness, anxiety, lack of exercise, poor diet and as one doctor put it ‘joylessness’. In 1994, she became the first chair of the Guild of Health Writers. On the Express she launched the first Mind, Body & Spirit pages in a national newspaper.
She co-founded the Beauty Bible, Real Health and Beauty for Grown Ups and is now a driving force behind the Beyond Pills All Party Parliamentary Group campaign to stop the over prescribing of medicines. Sarah’s experience is not only professional. In her twenties, she was dangerously addicted to alcohol and prescribed pills and became lonely and filled with shame. Alcoholics Anonymous showed her how to escape. Later she met I know two suicidal women who were helped to transform their lives not through drugs, but by singing in a choir and learning to draw and paint. This is exactly the Goldster Way to Wellbeing.
Tim Eggebraaten is a retired police chief whose advice to all around is to identify the rhythm unique to each of us and use the gifts we have for the good of people around us. It’s a tactic that wins every time, he says – looking for our beat. The course of our lives can be made better with the thinking: “I am. I can. I will.” Tim sees himself as a messenger of optimism. With a bundle of heartwarming stories and practical wisdom, he reveals how he finds beauty amidst the chaos and the resilience within. In conversation with Humphrey Hawksley. Tim will take us through life behind a police badge, sharing the highs and lows of a high stress career, his struggles and how he discovered the healing power of music. From the depths of personal challenges to the heights of realistic optimism, he delivers a tapestry of hope, giving us light-hearted anecdotes to profound insights on loss and mental health. He describes his book, Find Your Beat: Walk to the Rhythm of Life as a guide to transforming your life's soundtrack and tuning into the positivity surrounding you. Dance to the melody of optimism, and Humphrey will coax him into playing some tunes.
Are you living intentionally, with purpose and passion? Are you embracing the flame that ignites within you, or are you evading it? Will your future self be proud of your story, or do you yearn for something more? John R. Miles is the creator of Passion Struck: Twelve Powerful Principles to Unlock Your Purpose and Ignite Your Most Intentional Life, delving into the heart of what it means to live a life fuelled by passion and purpose. John runs the Passion Struck podcast, described by critics as a leading platform on debating alternative health initiatives, much centred around our own mindsets. John moved into his best-selling speciality from being senior executive within the United States Navy which grounded his vision in real-world experiences. He is regarded not just a voice on leadership and personal growth, but as a guide who had lived what he talks with storytelling resonate that resonates authentically with his audience. The Passion Struck book draws on insights from luminaries such as Oprah Winfrey and Astronaut Chris Cassidy, offering twelve science-based principles designed to awaken the dormant potential within us all. It’s a journey through overcoming self-doubt, catalyzing personal growth, and embracing a life lived with unwavering intention.
Health and well-being specialist, Professor Robert L Kilpatrick, has spent a career working on the science around preventative healthcare and well-being. He is a founding partner at Technology Vision Group LLC which advises clients on strategic development issues. His two current projects are a book The Future of Human Care: Health Innovation and Social Impact and a six-part documentary film and book, Paradigm Shift: A Wellness Revolution. As a Strategic Development Advisor to Scientific American in New York City, Robert helped create a media project The New Science of Wellness, which was sponsored by Google and Phenome Health. He is now engaged with Scientific American on a Healthspan: Living Better Longer.He Strategic Advisor to Nature Portfolio in London, developing a global project, Building Sustainable Healthcare Systems, specifically aimed at transform healthcare from a focus on disease to one on wellness and prevention. From 2022-23, he was a visiting fellow at Oxford University’s Martin School and St Antony’s College where he advised on live sciences. Many years earlier, he earned his doctorate at Cambridge where he was a Wellcome Trust Research Fellow. Join Robert Kilpatrick on the Goldster Magazine Show when Humphrey Hawksley will ask about his personal story and the changing attitudes over the years toward how we can all be healthier and feel more upbeat. Are doctors really changing their minds?
As Britain's best-known headmaster, Sir Anthony Seldon famously introduced happiness, or well-being, lessons at his school, Wellington College. In 2011, he co-founded Action for Happiness, a body to raise awareness of the discovery of happiness and reduction of depression, whose influence is growing rapidly in Britain and across the world. He is the author of Beyond Happiness: How to find lasting meaning and joy in all that you have' where lays out the difference between pleasure, happiness and joy, and offers an original 8-step approach on how to make our lives far more meaningful and rewarding. The pursuit of happiness can all too easily become a trap which seduces us into thinking there is no more to life than being happy. But in this special Goldster conversation, Sir Anthony will also talk about his widely-praised political writings, notably The Impossible Office: The History of the British Prime Minister. Who do you think has been our best and worst prime ministers?
If you are alive and breathing, you are growing no matter what you believe or what is happening. Embracing yourself as who you are is a key factor in being able to move anything forward, an empowered manifestation of the honest YOU. Such is the Goldster Conversation we will be having with the great Glenda Benevides, the Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter who has now written a book called Courage: Find Your Fire and Ignite Your Action in Life. Criticshave described is a sweet step-by-step coaching book. It coaches you to find yourself and to be you.
This writer writes in a way that is kind, sympathetic, and easy-to-read. It sounds like a mother guiding her child through any process. Critics have praised her writing for his hope and inspiration, a sermon of empowerment, enlightenment and building bridges of understanding all wrapped in powerful self-expression that moves the reader from feet to head. Glenda’s character pounds through her writing and music weaving together her deep understanding of human emotions and universal truths that binds us all together. Also come find out about the Global Badass Goddess.
What does it mean to be human? Here is a question many of us ask ourselves and from it comes thoughts about morality, freedom, good and evil, ambition, passion, religion and more. Peter Hacker is a leading philosopher, unafraid at slaying myths. He has written four books about human nature, looking deeply into the neuroscience of how we all think and live. They deal with many of these issues that turn in our minds throughout our lives and are the culmination of half a century of studying and teaching philosophy.
His latest is simply called The Moral Powers: A Study of Human Nature. Matthew Syed of The Sunday Times describes Peter as one of the world’s greatest philosophers who analyses human emotions throughout the ages. What do we actually think of ourselves, our relationship to others and our place in the world? Admired for demolishing establishment thinking and taking to task his peers, Peter has been described as the most subtle and penetrating philosopher of the age. We are privileged to have him as guest on the Goldster Magazine Show
All of us, at some stage, find ourselves faced with impossible choices or in some form of conflict from which there seems no way out. The choices we make affect our families, the people we love and our lives. Rebecca Tinsley understands these challenges first-hand from her life helping others in the developing world. Her passion for fairness and her personal mission to end suffering began as a teenager when she campaigned against South Africa’s apartheid. Sinc then she has worked as a journalist and lawyer on war and human rights drawing lessons that stretch from Auschwitz to Bosnia to Sudan. Her geographical area of expertise is Africa. She is particularly knowledgeable on genocide and understanding why people do what they do. She has twice stood to be a member of parliament and continues to work a speech writer for politicians whose values she shares. She is the founder of Network for Africa and a campaign group for Sudan, Waging Peace, which has produced stunning compilation of children’s pictures of their own experience of conflict. Her novel, When the Stars Fall to Earth, is based around the long conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region which began in 2003. Join Rebecca Tinsley with Humphrey Hawksley in a compelling conversation about human choices and moving on from catastrophe. The Goldster Magazine Show 1pm June 11th2024.
We all see news headlines and wonder about our future -- war in Europe and the Middle East and the rise of China. Many worry or don’t watch it. But what can each of us do to help keep us as safe as can be. Sir Julian Brazier is a former government minister and a scholar in Maths and Philosophy from Oxford. He served for thirteen years as an officer in the Territorial Army, including five with the Special Forces. He is chairman of a security company, and a distinguished fellow of Royal United Services Institute. He is active in defence-related charities and currently joint patron of the Ukraine Freedom Company, a not-for-profit organisation which delivers equipment, vehicles and medical supplies to the Ukrainian Army. In this Goldster Magazine Show, Humphrey Hawksley will explore with Sir Julian ways in which, as individuals, we can contribute to the safety and well-being of our communities and, hopefully, help avert any war. Measures range from supporting and joining military reserves -- whereby those in civilian jobs can bring their skills to a military setting -- to learning first aid, keeping ourselves fit and making our homes as self-reliant as can be. Join Humphrey with Sir Julian Brazier for a fascinating inside look into Britain’s defences and our own role in safeguarding the country.
Dr James Ray is Emergency Medicine Consultant at Oxford University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Clinical Governance Lead for NHS 111 in Oxfordshire. His main current interest is to improve the urgent care pathway by making it as accessible as possible without compromising safety and effectiveness to improve the patient experience. His aim is to spread out the workload across services, encourage team working throughout providers and continue to develop the workforce needed for the ever-increasing demand. James is an advocate of all doctors and nurses, from all backgrounds, whether primary or secondary care, working together with the sole aim of providing the same goal which is to put the patient first. Such idealism, he says, is the key to success of the NHS. “As an Emergency Medicine Consultant, I understand and feel the constant pressure on the front door of the hospital,” says James. “It is the ED Consultant’s responsibility to make sure all patients arriving in the department
Being understood is a basic human need. We all have a right to express our voice. But conscious efforts are often needed to put over our viewpoint. Kendra Dodd specialises in removing barriers that divide us. In these current troubling times, we need to understand better our own inner core and perspective, as well as that of others who may think very differently. We need to work on unifying and learning how to step into the shoes of others. Kendra Q Dodd teaches how this can be done in our community, family and at work. Her new book Perspectives: Building meaningful connections by learning 4 steps to courageously speak unfolds a point-by-point approach in forging understandings with people unlike us and building better relationships with them. Kendra spells out how much we crave human connection and enjoy being with others. “Many people feel encumbered,” she says, “not because of the lack of potential to succeed, but because they are not sufficiently equipped with the correct tools to create the fulfilment of whom they desire to become.” Join Kendra Dodd with Humphrey Hawksley in a Goldster Magazine Show conversation that will challenge, ask tough questions with all the Goldster ethos of fun, stimulation and insight.
Exposing the Hospital Myth: NHS Boss on True Health. Insights from Lord Nigel Crisp, Former Head of the NHS
Are you feeling trapped in a cycle of hospital visits? Join us for a candid discussion with Lord Nigel Crisp, the former head of the NHS, as he sheds light on what it truly means to achieve optimal health. In this episode, we uncover the limitations of hospital-centric care and delve into often overlooked strategies for enhancing well-being from the comfort of your own home.
Join us to learn:
- Why hospitals may not always be the best solution for long-term health.
- Practical tips for boosting vitality through home-based solutions.
- Insights into the healthcare system that you may not have considered.
- Empowering steps you can take to lead a healthier, happier life.
This episode is for those who:
- Feel frustrated with their reliance on the medical system.
- Are interested in exploring natural approaches to health.
- Want to take control of their health proactively.
Don't miss this enlightening conversation as we embark on a journey towards true health!
www.goldster.co.uk
A very special Inside Story brings together Goldster Conversations’ two founding hosts Lucinda and Humphrey Hawksley in both a Zoom and in-person audience event at Kingfisher Wharf, Riverstone, Fulham. Three years ago, at the height of the pandemic, with millions isolated and alone, Goldster founder Mike Reid had a vision: What if he could deliver activities, social interaction, community and stimulus straight into people’s homes. With his experience in health and well-being, Mike did exactly that to make Goldster the brilliant success story it is today. His plan included a Book Club to encourage discussion and reading. This became Goldster Conversations where Humphrey and Lucinda have hosted hundreds of fascinating guests.
Today, the tables will turn with Lucinda asking Humphrey about his books and work. Why did work is passage to Australia straight after leaving school? What drew him into journalism to become one of the BBC’s most respected foreign correspondents? Find about his long-running campaign against slavery and quiz Humphrey on world affairs? Are we heading for war? How can we secure peace? And where did he get the idea for his highly-acclaimed Rake Ozenna thriller series, based on a remote Alaskan island?
Being Goldster, of course, where anything goes, you might find Humphrey quizzing Lucinda, especially as she is the great-great-great granddaughter of Charles Dickens and, in her blood, carries his campaigning literary talent with an array of books on history, travel and, yes, beards.
High-stakes casinos, black market gambling, Formula One racing, drug trade espionage, shipping piracy, sports fixing and a cast of intriguing characters created by Doug Stewart . One of the most compelling is Insp. Todd “Ratso” Holtom, whose latest adventure Deadly Hush is published at the end of February; a serial killer on the loose leaving a playing card with each victim. All of the above comes from imagination of a distinguished lawyer who has worked courts and cases of London, Las Vegas and beyond. Doug is part-time chair of the Isle of Man Employment Tribunal and, now in his early eighties, he is getting his ducks in a row to make a full-time career as a thriller writer.
He knows first-hand how to follow the money whether the billions bet legally and illegally on sporting fixtures or the mechanism behind organising a freighter’s pirate seizure or a shipment of heroin from Afghanistan to European streets. Humphrey Hawksley will be digging behind Doug’s book covers to find the risks he takes in getting his startling information, how he moves so easily between London’s Mayfair clubland, the Mediterranean and Caribbean. How does he harnesses his ideas and what trouble has he run into over his long career as an author and lawyer. What is the Purpose, Passion and Grit he needs to keep going.
Join Lucinda Hawksley for the final Inside Story, with special guest Karim Alrawi, who will be joining us very early in the morning his time, from Canada. Karim grew up in both of his parents’ countries: England and Egypt. His experiences of both countries’ literary heritages have made him a superb writer, able to master several genres.
Karim’s first produced work was a radio play submitted, when at university, to a BBC competition. After graduating, he became a playwright, literary manager of the Theatre Royal Stratford East, and resident writer at London’s Royal Court Theatre. His plays have won awards, including an Edinburgh Festival Fringe First and the Samuel Beckett Award for the Performing Arts.
After accepting an offer to teach creative writing at the American University in Cairo, Egypt, Karim set up the censorship monitoring unit at the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights and was elected president of Egyptian Pen. Subsequently, he received an International Fulbright Scholarship to the USA and took up residencies at theatres in the US and Canada. He also taught creative writing including at the University of Victoria, the University of British Columbia and the University of Iowa (home of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop). Karim also wrote articles for publications including The Guardian, the New Statesman, the Globe and Mail, the Literary Review of Canada and the LA Review of Books. He was senior editor of Inquiry magazine, managing editor of Middle East Insight magazine and editor in chief of Arabica magazine.
After 9/11, he was commissioned by the US State Department and the Canadian International Development Agency to develop and supervise media training programmes on conflict-mitigating, reporting in 14 countries from Morocco to Nepal. He was also an advisor to the United Nations, and he helped to develop a framework for a two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, laying the groundwork for the Annapolis Conference (2007).
Karim’s first novel was the superb and award-winning Book of Sands and he has just completed a second novel, The Burning Book, based on his experience training Iraqi journalists during the country’s occupation by western coalition forces.
Juliet Campbell was the first of Britain’s pioneering female ambassadors -- ‘An inspiration for those with ambition to make a difference in the world’, says diplomat, Karen Pierce, Britain’s current ambassador to the United States. In Playing Britannia Juliet tells her story through letters and diaries she kept at the time. Besieged in a chateau with the Queen, looping the loop in a jet and meeting top Chinese Generals in the Great Hall of the People became everyday stuff for Juliet, who rose to be Ambassador to Luxembourg and went on to be appointed Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge.
From joining the Foreign Office in 1957, when only a handful of women served on its 1100 staff, Juliet rose through the ranks working in Brussels, Bangkok, Paris and Jakarta as well as stints at the heart of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. Her career spanned almost exactly the years of the Cold War, working as the Berlin Wall was built and as it came down. In the Asian megacities of Thailand and Indonesia she witnessed the unfolding of the region in the aftermath of the Vietnam war and the beginning of the rise of China. Join Humphrey Hawksley with Juliet for this fascinating Goldster Conversation of her career as a woman in a man’s world working at the heart of Britain’s foreign policy. Goldster Inside Story Friday January 19th 2024.
Virginia Woolf, Agatha Christie, and Sylvia Plath are three of our most famous authors. In her new book, Rachel Trethewey tells the story of the remarkable mothers who shaped these amazing women, through first-hand testimony and rigorous research.
Julia Stephen, Clara Miller, and Aurelia Plath were fascinating women in their own rights, and their relationships with their daughters were exceptional; they profoundly influenced the writers’ lives, literature, and attitude to feminism. Mothers of the Mind charts their complex, often contradictory, bond and offers a new perspective.
Rachel Trethewey read History at Oxford University, where she won the Philip Geddes Prize for student journalism. She has a PhD in English, is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and recently received the Antonia Fraser Award from the Society of Authors for a biography of a woman or women for Mothers of the Mind. She will be joining Lucinda Hawksley on 11 January; join them and be part of the Goldster Conversation.
To watch the original recording of this episode, please click here.
Michael Muthukrishna is a psychological and behavioural science specialist at the London School of Economics. Drawing on the most recent research across the sciences, humanities, and the emerging field of cultural evolution, Michael paints a panoramic picture of who we are and exactly what makes human beings different from all other forms of life on the planet. He argues that it is our unique ability to create culture, a shared body of knowledge, skills, and experience passed on from generation to generation that has enabled our current dominance.But it is only by understanding and applying the laws of life - the need for energy, innovation, cooperation and evolution - that we can solve the practical challenges we face as a species.
A Theory of Everyone attempts to provide solutions for how to solve the most pressing problems of our collective future, such as polarization, inequality, the "great stagnation" in productivity, and the energy crisis. Michael’s work has been praised as ‘mind expanding’ by Times columnist Matthew Syed: “This book will change your view of the world forever'.
Peter Frankopan describes A Theory of Everyone as 'Wonderfully refreshing and thought-provoking'. In this Goldster Conversation with Humphrey Hawksley Michael will lay out his thoughts on how we can create a better future for ourselves in the generations to come. Goldster Inside Story 12.00 London time Friday January 5th 2024.
To watch the original recording of this episode, please click here.
Amanda Craig is the author of nine novels, including her latest book, The Three Graces – which is about three friends in their 80s, who have retired to Tuscany, where they must stop one grandchild from a disaster wedding, redeem another and save a life…
A State-of-the-Nation novelist whose work has been compared to that of Dickens, Trollope, E.M. Forster and Kate Atkinson, Amanda combines strong, interlinked characters and plots involving crime, romance, social comedy and satire about modern life. Two of her recent novels, Hearts and Minds and The Golden Rule were long-listed for the Women's Prize for Fiction, and The Lie of the Land was made into a Radio 4 ‘Book At Bedtime’. She writes, she says to “afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted.”
To watch the original recording of this episode, please click here.
Many people feel like they’re in the dark when it comes to their finances. Insecurity about money often stems from past experiences and how you grew up. Unfortunately, this can also lead us into some bad habits and feeling like the ability to save money is out of our reach. Sometimes the idea of investing can be overwhelming and in our busy lives, who has the time to learn and really understand what your money can do for you? Kalee Boisvert profiles herself as a Money Guru. Her passion is creating new possibilities in women’s lives by showing them the ropes when it comes to money, to create understandings about wealth, investment and finance.
With inspiration from her own life, Kalee has developed an easy-to-use system for women, young and old, to take control of their finances. In her book Make Money Your Thing she lays out an approachable guide to take women on a journey to feeling comfortable and in control of their finances. There are simple action steps to learn the basics of money management, understand the importance of balancing the books, and embrace the uniqueness of your own personal situation. “When money is your thing”, says Kalee, “you can feel completely at ease about making it work for you–and feel confident that your financial goals and dreams are all very possible.”
to watch the original recording of this episode, please click here.
Calling all fans of Jane Austen. On 13 October, Lucinda will be interviewing Ruth Leigh, author of A Great Deal of Ingenuity: A Collection of Pride and Prejudice Stories. The pages of Pride and Prejudice sparkle with household names: proud Darcy and prejudiced Elizabeth, book-loving Mr Bennet, the snobbish Bingley sisters, predatory Mr Wickham and oily Mr Collins. But what about all the other people busy cooking, mending, flirting, walking and socialising in the background?
In this collection of short stories, Ruth shines a light on the lives of nine characters from the novel. How is married life at Hunsford? Will Maria Lucas ever find a husband? How does Sally the maid feel about mending Lydia’s worked muslin gown? Which Meryton matron will triumph in luring a marriageable young man into their parlour? This charming collection of stories gives the reader a window into the worlds of Meryton, Rosings Park, Pemberley and Hunsford as you’ve never seen them before.
Ruth Leigh is also the author of the witty Isabella M Smugge series about a single parent of four who moves from London to the countryside, becoming an “instamum” and turning her life into an award-winning ‘brand’ yet struggling with the actual, non-instagram realities of life.
“Quite early, I came to terms with the fact that I was gay,” explains Goldster Purpose, Passion and Grit guest, Roger Leslie. “But as a spiritual person, I assumed that my sexual orientation meant that I was fundamentally flawed and would have to live without love. That terrifying revelation directed me toward an unprecedented journey that opened my life and elevated my destiny. My determination to live— and love—lit my path on the journey that redefined my life, showed me what mettle I was made of, and revealed to me my soul.”
Roger Leslie, a highly acclaimed author and international speaker, has just released his debut memoir Light Come Out of the Closet: Memoir of a Gay Soul, that is a riveting testament of the challenges and tribulations for anyone who identifies life within the LGTBQ community and strives for equality in human spirit. Roger will talk movingly about the emotional rollercoaster of living life in a gay marriage where they have been judged and forced to overcome challenges brought on by views of society. But ultimately being together became a celebration despite all obstacles.
This is a story about the struggle to reconcile his sexuality with his religious, explores his journey of rediscovering the God of love he learned about as a child, a powerful testament to hope, healing, and self-discovery in the face of prejudice and adversity. .
Phillipa Ashley was one of the first authors to come onto the Goldster Book Club, and she is making a welcome return to talk about the art of seasonal writing. Phillipa is a Sunday Times, Amazon and Audible best-selling author of uplifting romantic fiction, and on 15 December, she’ll be talking to Lucinda about her Christmas-themed novels.
After studying English at Oxford University, Phillipa worked as a copywriter and journalist before turning her hand to writing. Her debut novel, Decent Exposure, won the Romantic Novelists’ Association New Writers Award and was filmed as a Lifetime TV movie, 12 Men of Christmas, starring Kristin Chenoweth and Josh Hopkins.
Since then, her novels have sold well over a million copies and been translated into numerous languages. Phillipa lives in an English village with her husband, has a grown-up daughter and loves nothing better than walking the Lake District hills and swimming in Cornish coves.
To watch the recording of this episode, please click here.
Lord Richard Dannatt was a soldier for forty years concluding his military career as Chief of the General Staff – the professional head of the British Army. Since retiring from active duty in 2009, he was Constable of the Tower of London until July 2016. In 2011 he became an independent member of the House of Lords.
His military career began in 1971 with a first tour of duty in Belfast as a platoon commander. During his second tour of duty, also in Northern Ireland, he was awarded the Military Cross. In 1977, however he suffered a major stroke, taking two years to recover. His commanding officer encouraged him to stay, and Lord Dannatt went onto hold the Army’s highest military rank.
Lord Dannatt is the author of two high-praised books, his autobiography, Leading from the Front and his latest he co-authored Victory to Defeat: The British Army 1918-1940.
To watch the recording of this episode, please click here.
Alison Hill’s brand new biography, Pauline Gower, Pioneering Leader of the Spitfire Women, tells the story of the amazing woman who led the 164 Spitfire women during WW2 and left a huge legacy for women in aviation. On 21 October, Alison will be joining Lucinda to talk about Pauline’s life – from convent school ‘glittering figure’ to pioneering pilot and beyond; she set up the first female joyriding business in 1931 with high-achieving engineer Dorothy Spicer and took up over 33,000 passengers over six summers. In 1939 Pauline was appointed Commandant of the women’s section of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) and achieved equal pay for her women pilots. She enabled them to fly ‘Anything to Anywhere’, including Hurricanes, Wellingtons and – their firm favourite – the Spitfire.
Author and poet Alison Hill was awarded an Arts Council grant for her third poetry collection, Sisters in Spitfires, which celebrates the lives and flights of the women pilots of the ATA. In 2018, she was delighted to be flown to the Isle of Wight to meet Mary Ellis and hear her first-hand memories of Pauline, and to talk to other ATA pilots Joy Lofthouse and Molly Rose. Alison’s previous collections include Slate Rising, Lyrical Beatsand Fifty Ways to Fly (ed.), which featured a poem by Pauline Gower. She is an RSA Fellow and a member of the Spitfire Society.
Goldster Conversation delves into the fascinating world and minds of teenagers and young adults with author K. T. Anglehart. She weaves a captivating blend of witchy fantasy, ancient Irish tales, and real-world intrigue in her debut novel The Wise One and her November 2023 sequel The Twin Flame. Drawing on the imagination of C. S. Lewis’ Narnia series, she explores landscapes and folklore of Ireland and Scotland in a genre known as Young Adult Urban Fantasy.
How does this genre influence our culture? We have to remember that J. R. R. Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings and J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter are also Young Adult fantasies as is the fantasy of the hit television series Game of Thrones which began as the Song of Ice and Fire saga series. These stories are now part of our everyday conversation. In The Wise One, 17-year-old McKenna has a vivid dream of burning at the stake and is thrust into a world of faeries, spirits and a high priestess who tracks her every move. In The Twin Flame, impulsive, reckless McKenna realises she is a witch and that she keeps reincarnating as one. But only her mother knows why: McKenna has to find her.
On 23 November, Lucinda will be talking to lucid dreaming and sleep expert Charlie Morley, about his new book Wake Up to Sleep. Charlie is a best-selling author who, for the past 6 years, has been developing a trauma-sensitive, breath- & body-based approach to stress or trauma-affected sleep. Originally developed for British military veterans, his system has now been adapted for the general public. It combines breathwork, lucid dreaming and Yoga Nidra, to help regulate the nervous system and integrate trauma – and, it works!
In 2018 he was awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship grant to research PTSD treatment in Military Veterans and continues to teach people with trauma-affected sleep a set of practices called Mindfulness of Dream & Sleep. Charlie believes that most sleep hygiene tips are either ineffective or unsustainable. Instead he offers a pioneering new approach to troubled sleep and trauma which has been proven to improve sleep quality in 87% of participants.
Join Lucinda and Charlie to find out more about how to improve your sleep patterns and how you can use lucid dreaming methods to transform nightmares.
To watch the recording of this episode, please click here.
Billy Kenber is an award-winning investigative journalist at The Times who has taken the lid of a section of the health care industry. In his explosive book Sick Money, The Truth About the Global Pharmaceutical Industry, Billy maintains that medicines have become nothing more than financial assets and that how drugs are priced and who has access to them is now dictated by shareholder value. He cites the example of an American hedge fund manager who hiked the price of an HIV AIDS pill from $17.50 to $750 overnight and of a children's cancer drugs left intentionally to expire in a Spanish because it was more cost-effective. Billy explains industry culture such as the reluctance to invest deeply in vaccines because once the disease is conquered profits fall and an eagerness to put research money into chronic conditions like diabetes.
Unless we take action, Billy argues, we risk a dramatic decline in the pace of drug development and a future in which medicines are only available to the highest bidder. But how right is he? Do we not need the drug companies, warts and all, to step up the plate when we have to tackle a pandemic like Covid-19? Billy will also discuss Goldster healthy ageing techniques and how draw that balance between that lifestyle and only turning to medicines when necessary.
To watch the original recording of this episode, please click here.
Join us, either in person or online, for what promises to be one of our most exciting Goldster Conversations so far. On 16 November, the legendary Bonnie Greer OBE FRSL will be joining Lucinda Hawksley for a Goldster Live event at Riverstone Kensington, London!
Bonnie is an author, playwright, journalist, critic and former Deputy Chair of the British Museum. An advocate of free speech and higher education, Greer is passionate about both the arts and sciences and is determined to see that the voices of women and minorities are heard in both realms.
Greer has been awarded the Verity Bargate Award for Best New Play and is a columnist for The New European and Byline Times. Greer has appeared as a panellist and guest on a number of television and radio shows, including Question Time. Her podcast In Search of Black History is available on Audible. She has just completed a two-year conversation series at the British Museum, 'The Era Of Reclamation', with former British Museum Director Hartwig Fischer, in which they engaged with artists, scholars, and activists of colour on a range of issues of the day.
To watch the recording of this episode please click here.
John R. Seeger is a retired Senior Intelligence Service officer who was with the CIA for more than twenty years, leading small teams on many dangerous operations. In 2001, he went in Afghanistan after the Nine Eleven attacks on the United States in an operation captured in the Netflix documentary Spy Ops. On his final 3-year assignment at CIA headquarters, he worked as a chief of operations for a geographic division in the Directorate of Operations and then as a deputy director and deputy chief of the CIA Counterterrorism Centre. Since retirement, J. R. Seeger, as he is known, has set up training courses and given lectures on counter terrorism and other issues involving intelligence work.
He is also the author of the highly acclaimed Mike 4 thriller series about a family who have been part of the special operations and intelligence community from World War II to the present and of his Steampunk Raj historical fiction series with the latest A School for the Great Game. “If you like good tales of the shadowy, often hard-edged world of counter-terrorism, read Mike 4! Written by a veteran of ‘the community,’ it will teach while it entertains.” praises General Stanley McChrystal, while former CIA officer John Sipher says, “Seeger has developed enduring characters who allow him to explore issues related to war, family and betrayal.” Join J.R. Seeger with Humphrey Hawksley for a revealing Goldster Inside Story on spying and war at 12.00 Thursday November 9th 2023.
to watch the original recording of this episode please click here.
Join the Goldster conversation with Lucinda Hawksley as she chats to the author Francesca Wade about her fascinating debut book, Square Haunting: Five Women, Freedom and London between the Wars. It looks at the lives of five extraordinary women, including Virginia Woolf and Dorothy L Sayers, all of whom lived in the same square in London. Square Haunting was shortlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize and longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction. Francesca is now working on her second book, about Gertrude Stein. Her work proposes a form of biography centered on women’s lives, on collectivity and community, on recovering hidden histories, and on challenging the scripts by which lives are lived and stories are told.
Francesca is a former editor of the literary quarterly the White Review, and her writing has appeared in Granta, the London Review of Books, the New York Review of Books, and the Paris Review. She will be talking to Lucinda on 26 October, as 12pm. Come along and discover more about the intriguing lives of the women whom Francesca has brought back to life in the pages of her book.
To watch the recording of this episode please click here.
Would you like to know how to take greater control of your brain, to become more efficient, effective and successful? The brain often overcomplicates matters, leading us to feel overwhelmed and lacking in confidence. Yet we can take control. Are you interested? Then, come meet neuroscientist Dr Lynda Shaw who knows which bits of our brains do what and how to control them – at least as best we can. Once we understand, the impact on our lives can be profound as Dr Shaw lays out in her book Your Brain is the Boss: Using mind power to develop influence, creativity and work satisfaction. How we think effects everything, our work, our family, all corners of our lives. In conversation with Humphrey Hawksley, Lynda Shaw will explain all, showing ways to banish toxicity, create empathy, motivate those around us and come up with new ideas and ways of making a better world by thinking and working together.
Whether an event in your local community or a project in the boardrooms of multi-national companies, Lynda Shaw has a rare talent of turning the complex into the accessible and is passionate about teaching how our brains effect our behavior and, of course, vice-versa. Humphrey will quiz Lynda Shaw on how we can be happier, healthier, more confident, more friendly in a way that sets us on the path to achieving our goals. He might also ask about today’s politicians!
Why is Italy called Italy? How old is curry? Which people from history would best pull off a casino heist? Who was the richest person of all time? When was the first Monday? What were history's weirdest medical procedures that actually worked? How much horse manure was splattered on the streets of Tudor London? How fast was the medieval Chinese postal system? What did the Flintstones get right about the Stone Age? Who gets to name historical eras, and what will ours be called in 100 years' time? How do we know how people sounded in the past? How old is sign language?
These are the kind of questions that Lucinda Hawksley will be asking Greg Jenner, author, BBC podcaster, and public historian – you may well recognise his name from Horrible Histories on TV and his podcast You’re Dead to Me. Greg has made it his mission to provide answers to things you always wondered about, but didn't know who to ask. In his new book, Ask a Historian, Greg whisks us off on an entertaining tour through the ages, revealing the best and most surprising stories, facts, and historical characters from the past.
Bouncing through a wide range of subjects – from ancient jokebooks, African empires, and bizarre tales of medicinal cannibalism – Ask a Historian spans the Stone Age to the Swinging Sixties, and offers up a deliciously amusing and informative smorgasbord of historical curiosities, devoured one morsel at a time. Join Lucinda and Greg at 12pm on Thursday, 13th January – and don’t forget to bring your own questions to ask in the chat.
To purchase the book, click here.
To watch the recording of this episode click here.
Thriller writer Kenneth Dekleva is a psychiatrist in Dallas, Texas and, for many years, worked for the American State Department as a physician-diplomat. His postings included Russia, India, Mexico and the United Kingdom. He went on to become director of the State Department’s worldwide diplomatic mental health program and is currently a senior fellow at the George HW Bush Foundation for US-China Relations. When not working or practising martial arts, Ken writes fiction.
His latest, The Last Violinist, takes the reader to North Korea, the most secretive and closed-off country from where Jong-un, a talented violinist travels the world and is drawn into betrayal, espionage and battles between competing governments. The novel explores the psychological intricacies of human relationships, betrayals, passions, friendships and religious conversion. Ken’s earlier work, The Negotiator’s Cross, delivers a compelling story, also woven with themes of faith and religion. It is told through the eyes of a Father Ismael, a seemingly ordinary Catholic priest in Mexico City. That is until one of his parishioners vanishes. Ken is a familiar face and voice on American new media and gives presentations on leadership analysis which includes profiles on the Russian and Chinese leaders, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.
To watch the recording of this episode please click here.
Adrian Magson is the author of hundreds of short stories and 29 books and an acclaimed expert in creating fictional characters. In his crime-thriller series we meet private detectives partners Ruth Gonzales and Andy Vaslik; deep cover specialist, Marc Portman; spy Harry Tate; French 1960s crime fighter Lucas Rocco, and others. He is so prolific that he has not one, but two most recently published books, Death at the Old Asylum in which Inspector Rocco becomes enveloped in a case of cold-blooded execution and Killing Waters, a stand-alone murder investigation set on the Oxford Canal in the Midlands.
Adrian’s work has been praised for its strong female characters, realism, intrigue, grit and fast pace. Join Lucinda Hawksley with Adrian in the Goldster Conversation to discuss his wide body of work, his favourite series, the source of his ideas and writing techniques across the genres. Adrian also used to be a Tae Kwon Do instructor and you’ll hear about that, too.
To watch the recording of this episode, please click here.
Hannibal Jones is a trouble shooter, fighter of evil and a dogged investigator who finds himself up against organised crime and city corruption helping victims who are mostly the sick and most vulnerable. Hannibal’s creator is Austin S Camacho who returns to Goldster Inside Story on the publication week of his latest in the series, Subtle Felonies, a captivating mystery that takes us deep into Americana. A retired basketball star, Xander Brown, goes missing. His wife calls Hannibal for help and we delve into a world of money, music, sport and murkiness. Austin, himself, is a fascinating character. He handled media relations for the Pentagon and was a reporter for the American Forces Network. Deeply embedded within the American writing community, he is featured in the Edgar nomination anthology African-American Mystery Writers.
Austin is skilled at transforming today’s thorny issues of race, religion and identity into compelling crime and thriller fiction. In Blood and Bone an eighteen-year-old boy lies dying of leukaemia and members of a wealthy Virginia family are eliminated. In Beyond Blue, a privately funded detective agency helps police officers in trouble. In Ice Woman Assignment, a retired mercenary and retired jewel thief take on a Latin American drug cartel. Join Austin for this great Goldster Conversation with Humphrey Hawksley 12.00 Thursday September 28th, 2023.
To watch the recording of this episode please click here.
On 22 September, join Lucinda Hawksley as she speaks to a man who isn’t there….. JD Kirk is the author of the multi-million bestselling DCI Jack Logan crime fiction series, set in the Highlands of Scotland. He also does not exist. Instead, JD is the pen name of former children’s author and screenwriter, Barry Hutchison, who was born and raised in Fort William.
His latest title, A Dead Man Walking is the 18th book in the number-one-bestselling DCI Jack Logan series, perfect for fans of Ian Rankin, Stuart MacBride, and Agatha Christie. Its setting is a remote Highland castle, on a dark and stormy night. When an elderly billionaire is discovered dead in the locked study of his stately Highland home, DCI Jack Logan and his team must race the worsening weather to get to the scene of the crime. Jack finds no shortage of suspects. Everyone, it seems, had reason to want the old man dead, and they all have something to hide - but the castle’s residents won’t give him a minute to think. Not even the dead ones…
Including his books as JD Kirk, Barry has written over 200 novels, countless comics, and dozens of TV episodes. He still lives in the Highlands with his wife and children. He has no idea what the JD stands for.
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The Vicar is a debut thriller written under the pseudonym of A. J Chambers, a British army veteran deployed to Northern Ireland for much of his military career. Chambers introduces Terry Nolan, a British intelligence officer, who discovers that his cover is blown, and millions of lives are at stake. Officially, Terry Nolan has been dead for the past thirty years. But when Nolan is attacked in Boston, the chilling reality sets in that both Nolan and his network of spies known as his Parishioners are compromised. There begins a race to save lives and stop a dreadful terror attack on British cities. Chambers was determined to become an author after being given The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes for his tenth birthday. “I read it cover to cover in less than a month,” he says, “and then turned right around and read it again.” After leaving the army he followed another love which is cooking and worked as a chef for more than twenty years, but always with plot, character and thriller ideas swirling through his mind. He has five other completed novels to follow The Vicar.
After leaving the army he followed another love which is cooking and worked as a chef for more than twenty years, but always with plot, character and thriller ideas swirling through his mind. Join A. J Chambers with Humphrey Hawksley in a Goldster Conversation that will move from the Troubles of Northern Ireland to the experience of a debut author to the skills of creating Creole and Caribbean/Floribean fusion dishes in a culinary passion – Inside Story, 12.00 Friday October 6th 2023.
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Rory Cellan-Jones became a much-loved household name as the BBC Technology Correspondent. Since being diagnosed with Parkinson in 2019, he has pioneered a greater understanding of the disease among all of us with his articles and the illuminating and moving podcast Movers and Shakers. Fellow Parkinson colleagues such as Jeremy Paxman, Mark Mardell and Sir Nicholas Mostyn show how different personalities face up to setbacks. Rory is the best-selling author of Always On – Hope and Fear in the Smartphone Era and his new book, Ruskin Park; Sylvia, Me and the BBC, tells his own tender and troubling story. After his mother’s death, he discovered a file labelled ‘For Rory…in the hope that it will help him understand how it really was.’ He was the child of a love affair between two BBC employees and his mother Sylvia, single parented two sons in a one-bedroom flat while working full time.
In this inspiring and moving Goldster Inside Story meet Rory in conversation with Lucinda Hawksley to hear about understanding technology, living with Parkinson’s and discovering secrets from childhood and how all that makes you the person you are. Can we ever really know the truth about our parents? This is a live in-audience Goldster Conversation at the Riverstone Theatre in Fulham.
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Paul de Savary has a mission to transform social care. He is not a politician. Nor is he a social worker. Nor did he ever envisage himself being a pioneer for an issue which is constantly described as being in crisis.
Paul’s story is very personal and uplifting.
When his daughter, Laura, was six months old, doctors told the family, ‘Your daughter is mentally handicapped, she might live, or might not – we don’t really know and, by the way, good luck’. Over the years, fighting to get the best for Laura gave them all an insight into the world of caring for the most vulnerable and it was not an inspiring picture.
The phrase, ‘falling off a cliff’ refers to the point at which a child with special needs becomes an adult. Regardless of a person’s mental and physical needs, a raft of safety nets drops away.
The de Savary family searched and searched and found there was no-where Laura could live a safe, secure and fulfilling life.
Paul his wife Ann and Laura’s brother Hugo created their own care environment, Home From Home, in Lincolnshire, which constantly wins high ratings from the care regulator.
They use unique technology and new thinking, ignored by many mainstream professionals, to help the most vulnerable in our society live their lives to the fullest.
“Laura is testament to how anyone can positively affect the lives of others,” says Paul.
In early 2017, Sarah Bax Horton made the chance discovery through family history research that her great-great grandfather was a Metropolitan Police sergeant who worked on the Jack the Ripper case. This discovery inspired her to write a book in his honour, based on a theory dating from the time of the murders.
In the early 20th century, CID Chief Robert Anderson went public with a declaration that the police had identified the Ripper but failed a build a firm prosecution case against him. Anderson provided specific information about a Polish Jewish man, who was a true East Ender and who suffered from fits of violence. Using profiling techniques, Bax Horton’s research uncovered a new prime suspect, Hyam Hyams, who had the same distinctive physical characteristics as were reported by eye-witnesses in the minutes before the Ripper murders. His medical file provides a compelling physical and psychological match to Anderson’s perpetrator.
Find out more in the Goldster Inside Story on 14 September as Sarah Bax Horton talks to Lucinda about her fascinating research and what it was like to write the book, One-Armed Jack: Uncovering the real Jack the Ripper.
To watch the recording of this episode please click here.
Playwright, critic and literary novelist, Michael Arditti, tackles deep moral issues in his latest book The Choice which revolves around the rector of an ancient country church in Chesire. She chances upon the chief bell-ringer and husband of her closest friend, fondling a fifteen-year-old boy. Will she choose friendship or conscience, sympathy or her official duty of care? What will drive her decision and what will be the impact? Praised by Philip Pullman for iots important and pertinent themes and by former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, for testing the reader’s own moral alertness for rigour, realism and generosity. The Choice is Michael’s thirteenth novel. The twelfth, The Pretender, draws on Michael’s love for the theatre telling the story of 19th Century child star, William Henry West Betty, and the nature of celebrity, the power of publicity and the cult of youth – even before the age of social media.
His first book The Celibate published in 1993 delves into the character of a young, idealistic ordinant in the Church of England who only discovers humanity and passion when he sent to work among outcasts and down-and-outs. In this Goldster Conversation with Humphrey Hawksley Michael will discuss The Choice, his previous books and the ups and downs in a life of theatre, writing drama for BBC Radio Four, literary reviewing for just about every mainstream publication and novel writing. Inside Story, 12.00 Friday September 8th London time
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Julie Summers is a bestselling writer, researcher and historian. Her books include Fearless on Everest: The Quest for Sandy Irvine; a biography of her grandfather, the man who built the 'real' bridge over the River Kwai, The Colonel of Tamarkan, Stranger in the House and When the Children Came Home, a social history of servicemen returning to their families from the Second World War. On 3 February, Julie returns to Goldster to talk about Jambusters, the story of the Women’s Institute in WW2.
This was the W.I.’s finest hour. The whole of its previous history – two decades of educating, entertaining and supporting women and campaigning on women's issues – culminated in the enormous collective responsibility felt by the members to 'do their bit' for Britain. With all the vigour, energy and enthusiasm at their disposal, a third of a million country women set out to make their lives and the lives of those around them more bearable in what they described as 'a period of insanity'.
Jambusters also inspired the hit TV series Home Fires. Join Julie as she chats to Lucinda Hawksley about her writing and about what it was like to have her book turned into a TV series.
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Harry Bucknall’s love of travel blossomed in early childhood exploring the creeks, islands and inlets of Poole harbour in a mirror dinghy. He served in the army and is now a writer in the tradition of great adventurers chronicling his long walks in stories laced with humour, inspiration and sheer grit. In The Dolphin’s Wake, Harry’s first book, told the story of his 5,500 mile journey from Venice to Istanbul through the Greek Archipelago in the summer of 2006. Like a Tramp, Like a Pilgrim took us on a vivid 94-day, 1,411-mile pilgrimage following the ancient Via Francigena through England, France, Switzerland and Italy. His work has won praise from Hollywood actor Martin Sheen, gardening celebrity, Alan Tidmarsh and doyen of travel writing Sir Patrick Leigh Fermor.
His latest book, A Road for All Seasons, is out next year with the story of his walk from the Isle of Iona across the breadth of the British Isle on a quest to better understand his island nation. Rarely one to rest, Harry is presently developing a new project, The Trans-Arabian Camel Expedition, recreating the Queen of Sheba’s 2,000 mile journey by camel from Salalah in Oman to Jerusalem across the Arabian desert. Join Harry with Humphrey Hawksley for an adventure Goldster Conversation of a lifetime 12.00 London time, Thursday August 24th 2023.
Dr Emma Byrne is an honest-to-goodness robot scientist who, when she’s not developing intelligent systems, writes popular science books and has contributed to the Financial Times, the Guardian, Elle, and Therapy Today. She frequently appears on Sky News and the BBC talking about the future of artificial intelligence and robotics – and about swearing. Emma’s interest in neuroscience led to her first book, Swearing is Good for You: The Amazing Science of Bad Language, she argues that swearing is both big and clever. It’s likely to have been one of the first forms of language that we developed and, since then, it’s been helping us to deal with pain, work together, manage our emotions and improve our minds. Her most recent book is How to Build a Human, a smart, funny, humane look at what science knows about childhood. It will reassure and inspire parents, grandparents, and would-be-parents about the messy and beautiful process of parenting like a scientist. The Times called it “very welcome indeed … such a good book”.
Join Emma at this special PPG event on 12 September, both on zoom and live from Riverstone, as she chats to Lucinda Hawksley about neuroscience, about how we can all get to know our brains and about what we can do to help keep our brains healthy at all ages.
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Acclaimed historian Roger Moorhouse brings us a gripping Second World War story of forgers whose documents saved the lives of thousands of Jews facing extermination in the Holocaust. Under the leadership of the Aleksander Lados, the Polish Ambassador to Switzerland, they undertook a systematic programme of forging identity documents for Latin American countries, which were then smuggled into German-occupied Europe -- the painful uncertainty over whether they will be granted protection from the Nazis' murderous fury. The Forgers has been praised for being gripping, remarkable and fascinating, with individual stories of quiet heroism that became the single largest rescue operation of the war.
In this Goldster Conversation Roger will also be discussing his previous compelling books, The Devil’s Alliance about the pact between Hitler and Stalin; The First to Fight, on the 1939 invasion of Poland; Berlin at War, the everyday lives of Germans living in Hitler’s Berlin; and his first book, Killing Hitler, on the numerous attempts on the dictator’s life. Since 2016, Roger has been an associate professor at the College of Europe in Warsaw. As fellow historian, Dan Snow says, ‘Roger Moorhouse has a wonderful knack of reminding us about parts of the Second World War that we are in danger of forgetting.’ Join Humphrey Hawksley with Roger Moorhouse on Inside Story 12.00 London time September 7th 2023.
To watch the recording of this episode please click here.
Jarod Chapman is a breath work and meditation teacher, a fitness coach, sports masseur, and co author of The power of Yoga For Men. He was Tina Turner’s Personal Wellness Coach on her final world tour in 2008-09.
His passion passion for writing about all things health, wellness, and living a positive life began after working as the Media Ambassador for Slendertone. The Power of Yoga For Men came about because Bloomsbury publishing recognised that men were seeking to find alternative and holistic approaches towards their health - in body, mind and spirit.
Jarod works as a coach and masseur to CEOs, teachers, journalists, entrepeneurs, performance artists, students; ranging in ages between 10 and 87. He works on the principle that exercise, yoga, healthy relationships, meditation, and nutritious food planning are all important to treat with a sense of responsibility, lightheartedness, discipline and commitment.
The Power of Yoga For Men is an appeal to men. We’ve been gifted the ancient yoga teachings for centuries - and they are now, ever more important, to explore and practice. Jarod’s philosophy is a multi-disciplined approach to life and wellbeing guided by Hippocrates, the grandfather of modern medicine, who said “ let medicine be thy food, and food thy medicine’.
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For over thirty years, Dr Ben Cave has been working in prisons and secure hospitals diagnosing and treating some of the most troubled men and women in society. A lifetime of care takes us from delusional disorders to schizophrenia, steroid abuse to drug dependency, personality disorders to paedophilia, and depression so severe a mother can kill her own baby. In his first book, What We Fear Most, Ben gives us the human stories behind the headlines, those tragic and often frightening tales of the conversations he has had behind closed doors. Here is the reality of a life working with patients with severe mental health disorders. Drawing on his years of training and extensive experience in this highly emotive environment, Dr Ben Cave takes us on a journey of reflection.
It’s about his patients, but it’s also about him. It’s about what they have taught each other and how it has changed them. It’s about the psychological battle scars he has carried with him after a career on the frontline of our health service. It’s about the brilliant mental health nurses for whom physical injury and verbal abuse are a daily hazard. It’s about the extremes of mental illness. It’s about all of us, and what we fear most. Dr Ben Cave is a pen name for an author who continues to practice as a general and forensic psychiatrist. Join him with Humphrey Hawksley in this revealing and exacting Goldster Inside Story Conversation Live from Riverstone, Fulham at 12.00pm, Thursday August 31st 2023.
Dr Nicholas Cambridge is an honorary research fellow in humanities and medical history at the University of Buckingham. Previously he worked as a GP for 25 years. He is a member of the Dickens Fellowship and has published several papers and given many lectures on Charles Dickens in relation to medicine. His new book, Bleak Health: The medical history of Charles Dickens and his family, is an in-depth study of the health issues affecting Charles Dickens, his parents, his wife Catherine, his sister-in-law Mary Hogarth, his siblings and his children.
For his book, Nicholas meticulously analysed over 14,000 of Dickens’s letters, and in doing so was able to identify over 20 illnesses that Dickens suffered from, including chronic carbon monoxide poisoning, gonorrhoea, asthma, gout, an anal fistula and trigeminal neuralgia. Join him with Dickens’s descendant
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Maggy Pigott is the vice-chair of Open Age, Life’s Just Begun and has published the critically-acclaimed How to Age Joyfully, Eight Steps to a Happier, Fuller Life. Dame Judi Dench commends the book to everyone of all ages and Giles Brandreth describes it as ‘full of wit, wisdom – and hope’. Here is Maggy’s nub thoughts. We’re living longer – let’s live better! Getting older should be something to enjoy and celebrate.
And it can be. Research shows that we can make a big difference to how well we age. From staying active to connecting with others, Maggy shares the secrets to ageing well in eight steps, to help keep you healthy and happy. Each step has easy-to-follow tips, alongside inspiring words both ancient and modern… and more! The guidance includes keeping physically active, eating well, having purpose and being positive. There are stunning quotes such as from Theodore Roosevelt – ‘Old age is like everything else… to make a success of it, you’ve got to start young’ to Mahatma Gandhi ‘The future depends on what you do today.’ Maggy also cites peer group leaders such as Sir David Attenborough travelling the world making natural history films in his nineties Dame Judi Dench and David Hockney both still working in their eighties, and of course Her Majesty the Queen. Whether you choose to follow some of the advice or all, this is the perfect guide for living a more fulfilled, healthy and joyful life.
To find out more join Humphrey Hawksley with Maggy Pigott on this uplifting Goldster Inside Story.
To watch the recording of this episode please click here.
Our lives are intrinsically linked to those of animals – whether that’s the animals we farm for food, those living in the wild, those we use for sport or the ones we choose to keep as pets. We all have a responsibility to consider our impact, and even small changes in our own lives could significantly improve the quality of theirs.
Dr Sean Wensley is an award-winning vet, lifelong naturalist and a former President of the British Veterinary Association, advocating animal wellbeing around the world. Fusing keen scientific insight with tender meditations on the natural world, his new book, Through A Vet’s Eyes: How to care for animals and treat them better, reveals the injustices which animals experience every day and raises an important question: how can we choose a better life for animals?
Compelling and compassionate, Through a Vet’s Eyes helps us to see things from the animals’ perspectives, and illuminates the ways we can better care for our fellow creatures. It was one of the Financial Times’ Best Summer Books of 2022. On 11 August, Sean will be talking to Lucinda Hawksley for the Goldster Inside Story.
To watch he recording of this episode please click here.
The Gift of Aging blends frontline science with inspirational stories and insights from wise elders for aging with health, joy, and purpose. Here is a compelling explanation of how our bodies and brains age, defining what can be expected with aging and what is unusual. The authors Elizabeth Eckstrom and Marcy Houle demonstrate ways we can significantly increase our chances for a positive aging experience into our 80s, 90s and 100s. At some stage of our lives, all of us will have to face the challenges of aging, whether for ourselves, our family or both.
The Gift of Aging follows the authors’ earlier best-seller The Gift of Caring: Saving Our Parents from the Perils of Modern Healthcare. Dr Eckstrom and practices and teaches health care for the elderly at Oregon Health and Science University in the United States. In conversation with Humphrey Hawksley she will offer key strategies for meeting the challenges of aging on a wide range of issues from inclusion to equity to handling legal and financial affairs. Her conclusion is that this third act of our lives can be exciting, meaningful and fulfilling and that, even though elderly, we can all continue to play our part in making the world a better place. Join Elizabeth with Humphrey for this exciting and revealing Goldster Inside Story at the special time of 4pm in the afternoon of Friday August 4th 2023.
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How can any writer today follow in the footsteps of Agatha Christie? Join Lucinda Hawksley, as she chats to Sophie Hannah, and find out just what it was like to resurrect the world-famous detective Hercule Poirot. Sophie Hannah’s psychological thriller The Carrier won the Specsavers National Book Award in 2013 and, since that time, her career has never looked back – except when she was commissioned to go back in time and conjure up new mysteries for Hercule Poirot to solve.
Although best known today as a crime writer, Sophie’s literary career actually began as a poet. She published her first collection The Hero and the Girl Next Door in 1995, at the age of 24. This was followed by five further books of poetry, including Marrying the Ugly Millionaire (2015). She has been shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize, and her poetry is studied at GCSE and A-level throughout the UK. Her first novel was Little Face (2006), the first of her bestselling Culver Valley Crime series of psychological thrillers featuring the characters Simon Waterhouse and Charlie Zailer. Her characters have also made it to the TV screen, adapted as the two-part drama series Case Sensitive (2011-2013) on ITV.
In 2020, Sophie published her fourth Poirot novel The Killings at Kingfisher Hill, and she is joining us at Goldster to celebrate the release of her new Waterhouse and Zailer novel The Couple At The Table (2022).
Join Sophie and Lucinda Hawksley for Inside Story.
To watch the recording of the episode please click here.
Ellen Cheshire spent her childhood reading books, visiting art galleries, watching films and going to the theatre. She began her career as a box office assistant. It was only natural that she would go on to work in the creative arts and is now a specialist in the cinema, and specifically great directors. She has written books on Ang Lee, the Taiwanese director who broke into Hollywood with films like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Brokeback Mountain and Life of Pi and New Zealand director, Jane Campion, whose work includes The Piano with which she was the first woman to win the Cannes Palme D’Or award and The Power of the Dog for which she won Best Director Oscar.
Ellen also contributed to Silent Women, the first book to give an overview of early women film-makers with stunning illustrations of the early days of the movies and The Charlie Chaplin Archives which tells of the comedian with his trademark bowler hat, baggy trousers and cane, arriving in Hollywood in 1914 to become the slapstick king of America and incredibly rich with his own studio and an instantly recognisable character. Then, of course, Ellen’s hand is also seen within the James Bond Archives, the most dashing secret agent in the history of cinemas.
Steeped in folklore of Hollywood and its history, join Ellen Cheshire in conversation with Humphrey Hawksley to peel back stories of the stars, the directors, the in-fighting and awards in our block-buster Goldster Inside Story.
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How much can a good relationship improve your home life and make your work and social life more fulfilling? Best-selling author and communicator, Jen Nash will reveal all about the power of relationships with inspiring zippy true life stories taken from her best-seller The Big Power of Tiny Connections—How Small Interactions Spark Awesome Outcomes. Over the past twenty years, Jen has coached top executives from a range of multi-national corporations on how to retain information, boost confidence, inject employee satisfaction and aim for greater productivity and long-term happiness.
The surprise is that the techniques Jen teaches at that level are exactly the same for all of us leading our individual lives. How do you follow up on that interesting person you just met on a bus, plane, train or at a party. Most of us, however successful, harbour a thought that there could be more out there for us. We wonder about missed opportunities and things we might have done differently. Whether you want to build a multi-billion dollar company or get the garden just right for the summer, the answer lies in the people we know, our relationship with them and an understanding how pivotal they are to our own feeling of fulfilment. Meet Jen Nash in conversation with Humphrey Hawksley who will open the show by asking her about his own fears and inadequacies.
To watch the recording of this please click here.
Katharine has written non-fiction, short stories and books for children. The Low Road is her first novel. Her non-fiction works include Scapegoat: Why We Are Failing Disabled People and No Place to Call Home: Inside The Real Lives Of Gypsies And Travellers. Katharine also works as an investigative journalist and editor, with particular interests in disability, the environment, race and ethnicity and the care system.
The Low Road is set in rural England, London and Australia in the early nineteenth century. It is based on a true story Katharine found whilst visiting her parents in the Waveney Valley of a Norfolk woman, Mary Tyrell, who was staked through the heart after death in 1813. She had been questioned repeatedly about suspected infanticide. Katharine traced her surviving daughter to a Refuge in London, where she forged a friendship which deepened into love with another young woman. Both were then transported separately to Australia, and the novel is based on their story.
This novel is about uncovering lost histories: the stories of poor women from rural areas, the stories of the imprisoned, the stories of convicts sent to penal colonies, and the stories of people who often left no records as a result of illiteracy and hardship. It also contains an important strand of narrative that explores experiences left out of the history books - in this case, a same-sex romance.
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Mike Gayle was born and raised in Birmingham. After graduating from Salford University with a degree in Sociology, he moved to London to pursue a career in journalism and worked as a features editor and agony uncle. He has written for a variety of publications including The Sunday Times, the Guardian and Cosmopolitan. He lives in Birmingham with his wife, kids and greyhound.
Mike became a full-time novelist in 1997 following the publication of his Sunday Times top ten bestseller My Legendary Girlfriend, which was hailed by the Independent as 'full of belly laughs and painfully acute observations', and by The Times as 'a funny, frank account of a hopeless romantic'. Since then he has written eighteen novels, including The Man I Think I Know, selected as a World Book Night title, and Half A World Away, selected for the Richard and Judy Book Club. His books have been translated into more than thirty languages. In 2021, Mike was the recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Romantic Novelists' Association.
Join Mike as he chats to Lucinda Hawksley about his latest book, A Song of Me and You, for the Goldster Inside Story.
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Essie Fox was born and raised in rural Herefordshire. After studying English Literature at the University of Sheffield she moved to London, working on newspapers and in publishing – before she changed direction, becoming an illustrator in the world of art and design.
Always an avid reader, Essie now writes Victorian gothic novels. Her debut, The Somnambulist, was shortlisted for the National Book Awards, and featured on Channel 4’s TV Book Club. The Last Days of Leda Grey, set in the early years of silent film, was selected as The Times Historical Book of the Month. Her latest novel, The Fascination is based in Victorian country fairgrounds, the glamour of the London theatres, and an Oxford Street museum full of morbid curiosities – which really did exist.
Essie is also the creator of the popular blog: The Virtual Victorian. Join her as she chats to Humphrey Hawksley about her journey into the world of weird Victorians!
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James Clarke specialises in writing about cinema. He has worked with Iconic Images in London on a series of books about movie stars and their collaborations with particular photographers. The latest in this series of books is entitled Being Bardot and has just been published in the UK and the US. James also teaches screenwriting and works for the BFI as a Script Reader. James’s other books include: The Virgin Books Film Guide: War Films and Bond: Photographed by Terry O’Neill. James studied Film and Literature at the University of Warwick.
Brigitte Bardot stepped out of French films onto the global stage and remains recognised the world over for her work as an actress, a singer, and an animal rights activist. The photographers Douglas Kirkland and Terry O’Neill both worked with Brigitte Bardot at the peak of her fame in the 1960s and early 1970s, photographing the star on set and behind the scenes. Being Bardot looks at the life and work one of the most-loved faces in 20th-century cinema. Join James Clarke as he talks to Lucinda Hawksley about those images and what it is like to write about an icon of cinema history.
To watch the recording of this episode please click here.
“It’s never going to work. You’re not good enough!” Are you tired of hearing that nagging voice inside your head? And what if you could do something about it? Do you have a dream or a project that’s been on the back burner for too long? Even with all your accomplishments, do you still doubt yourself sometimes? Statistics show that eight-five per cent of people suffer from a lack of self confidence in at least one area of their lives. Draining negative self-talk creates procrastination, stress, anxiety, and burnout. People know what they want or need to do, and yet they do the reverse—they resist change and can’t adapt to the fast world we live in. That makes them feel powerless, frustrated, and insecure. In a work environment, this can lead to a demotivated and unhappy team, low overall performance and a high employee turnover rate. With the layers of stress people are already buried under, important decisions are clouded by emotions or limiting beliefs, instead of being based on skills and experience. Bottom line: whether on a personal or professional level, most people admit to not working—or living—at their full potential.
Nathalie Plamondon-Thomas is a Confidence Expert and bestselling author of seventeen books about success, communication, wellness and empowerment. In this uplifting and forward-thinking Goldster Conversation, Nathalie shows how negative self-talk, imposter syndrome, resistance to change, past trauma, and low performance can all be addressed with increased confidence. Join Nathalie with Humphrey Hawksley on Inside Story Friday July 14th 2023.
To watch the recording of this episode please click here.
Mandy Preece is an award-winning communications trainer, author and a soul midwife – also known as a ‘holistic end-of-life practitioner’. Mandy gives motivational talks on the art of 'being alongside' other people, in life and at the end of life. Heartfelt, honest, funny and poignant, Mandy inspires us to find new ways to support each other. Her book Being Rock (which redefines listening) was published in 2020.
After losing her parents and a close friend, Mandy switched careers from being a legal editor to sitting with people at the end of their life to ensure that someone is there at all times. She trained as soul midwife in 2011 and initiated a volunteer bedside companion scheme at an NHS palliative care unit in Dorset in 2013. Since then she has supported other hospices and hospitals to set up similar schemes so people do not die alone. Her experiential communications training received the Princess Royal Training Award in 2017 and in 2019 Mandy was named the NHS Unsung Hero Volunteer of the Year. Mandy’s joy of receiving the Award was matched by being asked to be part of an NHS/Helpforce Steering Group on volunteering within the NHS,
To watch the original recording of this episode please click here.
How much does fiction act as a safety release to the pressures building up inside us? How much to stories help in dealing with trauma and upheaval? In its continual search for the new, fun and unexpected, Goldster Inside story brings you Mark Everglade, author of dystopian fiction and an expert in the sub-genre of CyberPunk.
Goldster members, unfamiliar with CyberPunk, check it out with your children and grandchildren. This is a type of fiction first categorized through films like the 1982 box office hit Blade Runner where synthetic humans are bio-engineered by a powerful corporation, and it plays around with big ideas – humanity, artificial intelligence and our concept of God.
With more and more of our lives run by gadgets, Mark Everglade will guide us through terminology of technowrath and technoredemption and will take the lay people amongst us into his world of Dystopia and CyberPun. Your host Humphrey Hawksley will make sure he speaks in a language we all understand. Mark’s latest book Inertia revolves around the connection between government factions, big corporations, and the environmental destruction they create for their own profits. Sound familiar? A young geophysicist, Ash, finds herself at the nexus of all this as she infiltrates servers in virtual reality to discover the hidden connections.
To watch the recording of this episode please click here.
The Tennis Champion Who Escaped The Nazis is a family memoir. Felice Hardy’s grandparents fled to London with their daughter, escaping from Nazi-occupied Vienna. This book explores their new lives in England, as well as the terrible fate of those loved ones they were forced to leave behind in the Holocaust.
Felice’s grandmother, Liesl Herbst, was the 1930 Tennis Champion of Austria and later beat Tim Henman’s grandmother at Wimbledon. She and her daughter also played doubles at Wimbledon – the only mother and daughter ever to do so. Woven throughout this book is the search for the author’s own identity. She was raised in an emotionally-ravaged family who suffered from survivor’s guilt and buried their pre-war existence beneath a blanket of denial.
Felice is a journalist who has covered diverse subjects ranging from travel and food to sports and fashion. Her first job was at Vogue magazine and this was followed by a period as deputy editor of a ski magazine. She has also co-written more than 20 travel guidebooks.
Join Felice Hardy and Lucinda Hawksley on 29 June, 12pm. Felice will be talking about her writing career, her ancestors and why, as the descendant of two Wimbledon players, she never ceases to wonder why she can barely hit a ball over the net!
To watch to the recording of this podcast please click here.
Frances Evesham’s advice to those thinking of retiring is ‘to do something you truly love, whether it's travel, growing orchids or painting - the days just fly past." So, after stopping work as a speech therapist after thirty years, Frances tried her hand at something she really loved, and had been nagging her for years. "I thought I'd get to put my feet up when I retired, but I was wrong,” she says. She started writing mystery and crime and is now a best-selling author. She really loves it, saying "It takes over your life so that you forget aches and pains, worries and regrets as you live in your make-believe world. I feel 20 years younger and bursting with energy.” She has created the hugely success Exham-on-Sea Murder Mystery series which began one day when she was walking on a peaceful Somerset beach and discovered a unique nine-legged Victorian lighthouse. “My first Agatha Christie-style murder mystery, Murder at the Lighthouse, was born,” she says.
She then expanded her portfolio to the Ham Hill Murder Mystery series and will be discussing A Harvest Murder, set in Lower Hembrow, an idyllic village nestled beneath Ham Hill in Somerset. The villagers are preparing to enjoy the autumn traditions of the rural English countryside until Joe Trevillion, a curmudgeonly local farmer and the father of six children, vanishes.
To listen to the recording of this podcast please click here.
Victoria & Abdul is the story of the controversial relationship between Queen Victoria and a young Indian servant called Abdul Karim who arrived in court as a special present for her Golden Jubilee. Soon he became the Queen’s favourite, was promoted to being her Munshi or teacher, taught the Queen Urdu and introduced her to curries. Based on previously unseen journals and letters, Shrabani Basu uncovered this hidden story that rocked the establishment. Her book has since been made into an Oscar-nominated film starring Dame Judi Dench.
Shrabani Basu is a journalist and Sunday Times best-selling author. Her books include the critically acclaimed The Mystery of the Parsee Lawyer about Arthur Conan Doyle and the George Edalji case, For King and Another Country about Indian Soldiers on the Western Front in the First World War, Victoria & Abdul and Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan.
Shrabani is a frequent commentator on radio and television on Indian History and Empire.
To watch the recording of this episode please click here.
In The Kitchen Prescription, Dr Saliha Mahmood Ahmed draws on her love of good food and her expertise in gut health to create 101 recipes that are easy to make, incredibly delicious to eat and will effortlessly keep your gut and digestion in tip-top condition. Eating well doesn't need to be dull food and deprivation - it should be eating a wonderfully varied, vibrant and exciting range of foods. The more diversely we eat, the lower our risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, depression, and the more enhanced our immunity.
What sets Saliha and her recipes apart from other food writers is that her skills stretch from creating the finest and most healthy dishes to knowing how the ingredients are digested and how they impact our health. Not only is Saliha the winner of MasterChef 2017 United Kingdom champion, she is also the first ever doctor go lift that trophy and, in her day job, is a specialist registrar gastroenterologist at top London hospitals. Saliha knows exactly what how food impacts us.
The Kitchen Prescription became an immediate Sunday Times best seller and follows Foodology with fifty delicious, mostly vegetarian recipes and stories of why her memories of munching on Indian street food and jam doughnuts brings such gastronomic happiness.
Join Saliha Mahmood Ahmed in conversation with Humphrey Hawksley for a Goldster Purpose, Passion and Grit live, in-person special at the Riverstone Theatre in London and through our normal Zoom Goldster channels.
To watch the recording of this episode then please click here.
Gerald Dickens is a great great grandson of the author, Charles Dickens. He has been working as an actor, director and producer for many years. In 1993 he created his first one-man show, a theatrical performance of A Christmas Carolinspired by Charles’ own energetic readings of the 1860s.
A fascination in the life and works of his subject led him to write and direct further one-man shows including Mr Dickens is Coming!, Nicholas Nickleby, Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities, as well as some of the short stories, including the supernatural tale ‘The Signalman’. It was while researching the background to the latter performance that Gerald became fascinated in the circumstances behind the great Staplehurst rail disaster which took place on the 9th June 1865.
In the resulting book, Dickens and Staplehurst. A Biography of a Rail Crash, Gerald investigates the circumstances that led to the accident, both from Charles’ point of view, as well as a technical one. From a study of Charles Dickens’ life to the conclusions of the various official reports, Gerald’s book is a comprehensive study of the tragedy at Staplehurst.
Join them for a truly Dickensian Goldster event.
Twitch the recording of this episode please click here.
John Hands is a scientist, novelist, creative writing tutor and the author of substantive and much-lauded non-fiction works Cosmosapiens: Human Evolution from the Origin of the Universe and The Future of Humankind: Why We Should be Optimistic.After teaching physics for Britain’s Open University devoted more than ten years to evaluating scientific theories about how we evolved from the origin of the universe. The result was Cosmosapiens chosen by two reviewers as Book of the Year in The Times Literary Supplement and selected as one of the Best Science Books of the year by The Telegraph. Here, John argues takes us on a quest to ascertain what science can reliably tell us about how and why we evolved from the origin of the universe and whether what we are makes us different from all other animals.
The Future of Humankind is its recently published sequel in which, using a scientific perspective, John critically examines the current predictions of our extinction, survival, and transformation. Critics have described his ultimate prediction as unique, astonishing and surprising. With extraordinary insight, using solid materials, these works give a very valuable answer. Find out what lies ahead for our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren in this fascinating and challenging discussion about where we came from and where we are heading as Humphrey Hawksley quizzes John Hands about Cosmosapiens and The Future of Humankind. Goldster Inside Story Friday June 9th 2023.
To watch the recording of the podcast then, please click here
Louise Minchin went from presenting BBC Breakfast to competing for the GB Team in Triathlon in the World and European Championship. In her new book Fearless she set out to push herself even further. Over 17 chapters, Louise embarked on terrifying, exhilarating adventures across the UK and the world to be able to tell extraordinary women's stories – and to test herself. She free dived under the ice in the dark in Finland with the first female to swim a mile in the Antarctic Circle; she cycled across Argentina with one of the world’s most famous female endurance runners; she swam in the shark-infested waters of Alcatraz with two teenage sisters; she explored the dark and wild caves deep under the earth in Somerset, and much more, in the name of exploring what drives these incredible women, their motivation, resilience and determination.
Her book is not only a celebration of the bravery of these particular women, Louise is determined to bust the myth that only certain people can do incredible things and have their own adventures. In Fearless you will find women spanning all backgrounds, religions, ages, body shapes and sizes; women with disabilities, older women, younger women – all doing remarkable things that Louise wants the world to know about. Fearless is a rollercoaster of highs and lows, with fascinating and thrilling moments including some when Louise feared for her life. The book will leave you feeling empowered and inspired to get out there yourself – inspired to be fearless, in fact!
To Watch the recording of this podcast please click here.
Danièle Cybulskie has been making the Middle Ages fun, entertaining, and accessible for over a decade. She is the author of four books and hundreds of articles on medieval history. The creator and host of The Medieval Podcast, Danièle brings expertise and a sense of humour to the airwaves to dispel common myths about the medieval period and enrich our understanding about the people of the past. In 2020, Danièle built The Medieval Masterclass for Creators, an online course designed to provide novelists, game developers, and other fiction creators with expert information in a visual format to help them bring their medieval worlds to life. She continues to offer her expertise to creators through one-on-one consulting.
Her latest book, How to Live Like a Monk: Medieval Wisdom for Modern Life tells us how medieval monastic practices, with their emphasis on a healthy mind, soul and body, can inspire us to live fuller lives. Though monastic living may seem unimaginable to us moderns, it has relevance for today. Danièle illuminates the day-to-day of medieval European monasticism, showing how you can apply the principles of monastic living, like finding balance and peace to your life. Join Danièle with Humphrey Hawksley to talk about our inner health, Medieval life and Danièle’s own approach to handling the pressures and bustle of modern life. Goldster Inside Story, Thursday April 20th at the special time of 6pm.
To watch the recording of this episode please click here.
Sareeta Domingo is the author of The Three of Us (previously published as The Nearness of You), and the editor and contributing writer of the romantic fiction anthology Who's Loving You. Her novel If I Don't Have You was shortlisted for the Diverse Book Awards 2021. She has also written books for Young Adults, published under the name S.A. Domingo; these include Love on the Main Stage, which was shortlisted for the Lancashire Book of the Year 2021. Sareeta is also the Fiction Editorial Director at Trapeze Books.
Sareeta was born in London but spent her formative years in Bahrain, when her family moved there with her father’s job. After getting a job as a book editor, she continued to work on her own writing on evenings and at the weekends. Having been commissioned to write erotic short stories published in compilations for Agent Provocateur, and then an erotic novella for Pavilion Books, she turned her hand to pursuing a story that had been on her mind “for as long as I can remember”. This became her first full-length novel, now published as The Three of Us. Sareeta also writes a blog about books, entitled The Palate Cleanser.
To watch the recording of this episode please click here.
Jack Barsky grew up in the old East Germany and became a Soviet spy living undercover in the United States. No, this is not the plot of a fictional thriller movie. Jack Barsky’s book Deep Undercover: My Secret Life and Tangled Allegiances as a KGB Spy in America gives us a picture of his austere, but stable childhood in the 1950s in a backward corner of East Germany where summer camps were fun, and the Bible forbidden. Jack was smart and started a career as a university chemistry and maths teacher. Then, he was recruited by the KGB and, in 1978, went to America under a false identity. His job was to get close to those making American foreign policy, not as easy as his bosses thought.
Even so, for the next ten years, Jack carried out spying operations for the Soviet Union. Hear from Jack himself about deception, loneliness, loyalty and how his tangled double and sometimes triple life turned around. He is now an American citizen. This gripping and emotional story peers beyond the Iron Curtain for a look into the world of a KGB officer illegally living abroad. Join Jack Barsky with Humphrey Hawksley who will also ask what is happening now with the younger generation in Russia and China. Are they, too, being sent to spy on us?
To watch the original recording of this podcast please click here.
It’s 1990. The Happy Mondays are in the charts, a fifteen-year-old called Kate Moss is on the cover of The Face magazine, and Julia Roberts wears thigh-boots for the poster of a new movie called Pretty Woman. February Kingdom is nineteen years old when she is knocked sideways by family tragedy. Then one evening in May, she finds an escaped canary in her kitchen and it sparks a glimmer of hope in her. With the help of the bird called Yellow, Feb starts to feel her way out of her own private darkness, just as her aunt embarks on a passionate and all-consuming affair with a married American drama teacher. From the author of the modern classic. Eva Rice’s new book, This Could be Everything is a coming-of-age story with its roots under the pavements of a pre-Richard-Curtis-era Notting Hill that has all but vanished.
Eva Rice has written 5 novels and is the author of the Sunday Times bestseller The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets - a post-war coming-of-age story that was runner-up in the 2006 Richard and Judy Book of the Year. It is currently being developed by Fudge Park (creators of The Inbetweeners) and Moonage Pictures (Pursuit of Love) as a major new TV series. Eva has also toured with bands since her early twenties and has written the music and lyrics for Harriet a musical based on an early Jilly Cooper novel due to open in 2023. She has a geek-like fascination with pop music, and her party trick is recalling chart positions.
To watch the recording of this episode then please click here.
Malcolm Brabant is a larger-than-life figure in the worlds of filmmaking, war and medicine. In 2011, he had a routine yellow fever shot at a clinic near his home in Athens where he was then living as a foreign correspondent.
He was due to travel to the Ivory Coast in West Africa to shoot a series of films about child soldiers. Within eighteen hours, he was burning up with violent fever that lasted for thirteen days. From there, he descended into madness. Hallucinations convinced him he is the new Messiah and his Second Coming had to be broadcast on television. With incredible insight, his wife, Trine Villemann, filmed Malcolm’s horrendous experience and, when recovered they turned into an acclaimed documentary Malcolm is a Little Unwell, - both a paean to love and family, and a unique window into mental illness.
His purpose and his passion for more than forty years has been telling the news, reporting on crises from more than eight countries. He is one of the original one-man-band television crews, filming, editing and reporting from trouble spots and since 2015 has been the special correspondent in Europe for the American PBS Newshour show.
He is also the co-author of the New York Times best-seller The Daughter of Auschwitz with Tova Friedman, one of the youngest people to emerge from the Nazi concentration camps, having witness atrocities she can never forget. Malcolm’s grit is surviving madness. His purpose is to report the news. And his passion lies in telling a good story.
Jessica Fellowes is the author of the crime series, The Mitford Murders, which has been published in eighteen territories worldwide and nominated for awards in England, Germany, Italy and France. Her first standalone novel, The Best Friend, was published this year in the UK and US.
Jessica started her career in journalism, working as the deputy editor of Country Life magazine and as a columnist on the Mail on Sunday. Her first books were the five official companion books to the TV series Downton Abbey, several of which have appeared in the New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller lists. Jessica has also written short stories for Vogue Italia and contributed to a number of shows on radio and television, from Woman’s Hour to Lorraine Kelly’s show, as well as having given lectures across the US and UK.
To watch the original recording of this podcast, please click here.
India Be Damned is an epic thriller set during the last days of Britain’s colonial rule of India and the first dreadful, blood-ridden months of independence. The author is legendary foreign correspondent, Peter Popham, who has turned his forensic journalist’s eye to fiction in a work that both vividly entertains while prompting us to think more closely about Britain’s role in India’s modern history.
Coming out seventy-five years after those events, it illuminates how the panicked slicing of India into three territories of Pakistan, India and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) made war in the subcontinent inevitable. War after war that continues today. “How we Brits love India!” says Popham. “We couldn’t get enough of it. Then in 1947 we did the mother of all bunks.” As the independence deadline approaches Britain plays a wild card, appointing world-famous war-hero Lord Mountbatten the last Viceroy. “Dickie” and his socialist wife Edwina imbue the end of empire with their celebrated panache, and for foreign journalists and freedom fighters alike, it’s a dazzling show. But when Mountbatten decides to rush the process to its conclusion, he damns India to a baptism of blood. This fictional account tells how long-held certainties are shattered within a group of Indians in those first murderous months of independence.
To watch the recording of this episode please click here
In 1985, 24 young people from around the world had their RSVP pen pal requests (and their full postal addresses!) published in the bestselling music magazine of the day, Smash Hits. 35 years later, a couple from South London decided to reply – to all of them.
Paul Chronnell and Sarah-Louise Young then wrote a unique, funny and touching book (think Danny Wallace & Dave Gorman meet Nora Ephron and Richard Curtis) about their quest to first find, and then reunite 24 pen pal seekers with their teenage selves. The result was The RSVPeople. Paul is a feature-film screenwriter, playwright, author. He has written TV comedy and humorous articles for magazines. Sarah is an award-winning actor, singer, writer and cabaret performer, currently touring the country with her one woman show An Evening Without Kate Bush.
Join Lucinda Hawksley for the Goldster Inside Story, as she chats to Paul and Sarah about their quest. It wasn’t easy – who still lives at their childhood address? (In this case: no one.) But armed with nothing more than the obsessive attention to detail of Hercule Poirot, the powers of the Internet and more coffee than is strictly good for a middle aged couple, they followed the clues and contacted strangers, in a self-deprecating bid to answer those 1980’s cries for connection. It’s a story of fun, of surprise, of tenacity, but also one of love – a heart-warming tale about people and the power of actually reaching out and saying hello.
Sarah’s photo credit: Jamie Zubairi
Book jacket credit: Angus Stewart.
Twitter:
@TheRsvpeople
@SLYtheatremaker
@PaulieChronn
Widowland and Queen High are a publishing phenomenon and among the most critically-acclaimed novels of recent years. Widowland, set in 1953, has been described as the most important feminist novel for decades and tells of an alternate history where instead of Nazi defeat, there has been a Grand Alliance between Great Britain and Germany. The much-awaited sequel is Queen High, set in 1955. President Eisenhower is about to make a state visit and a paranoid Queen Wallis Simpson summons fearless, plucky protagonist Rose Ransom to Buckingham Palace for a briefing.
Queen High has already been listed as Book of the Year for the Guardian, Telegraph and Financial Times. The author C. J. Carey is a pseudonym for the real-life best-selling novelist Jane Thynne who among her many works is creator of the gripping Clara Vine series. An attractive young Anglo-German actress arrives in 1930s Berlin to find herself in world of rising Nazism, terrifying secrets and torn loyalties and love. Jane the widow of the late Philip Kerr the creator of the hugely successful Bernie Gunther series of the same Nazi era, now being developed for television by Tom Hanks. In this very special Goldster Inside Story, Humphrey Hawksley will be in conversation with Jane Thynne live at the Riverstone Theatre on the banks of the River Thames in London. Hear what happened the night Tom Hanks came to dinner, how Jane creates plots, character and her alternative history and much, much more.
To watch the recording of this episode please click here
The Male Gaze, Joe Treasure’s first novel, was inspired by his experiences in Los Angeles during the early years of George W Bush's "war on terror". In his second novel, Besotted he drew on his memories of growing up in a large, eccentric family and his close bond with a troubled but brilliant brother. This is a theme on which Joe is now working more directly, as he is currently writing a memoir.
Joe’s most recent novel, The Book of Air, envisaged a deadly airborne virus that destroyed society and gave rise to a community of survivors, whose rules and rituals were based on a close reading of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre.
During the 2020 lockdown, Joe wrote a series of poems about famous paintings. He turned this into a performance in which the readings are richly illustrated by slides – art from six centuries brought dramatically to life through the imagined voices of the artists and the figures in their paintings. Designed initially for Zoom audiences, Out of the Frame: poems on paintings has now been delivered live in the mountains of Colorado and in Monmouth’s medieval Priory. With an actor reading the female-voiced poems (about half of them), Joe will also be presenting Out of the Frame on the 21st of June as part of the Wandsworth Arts Fringe.
To watch the recording of this podcast please click here
Monique Roffey is a writer, lecturer, professor of contemporary fiction and founding member of Writers Rebel which combats climate change. Born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, Monique has had life-long links to the Caribbean region and has set four of her six novels there. Her latest The Mermaid of Black Conch won the 2020 Costa Book of the Year Award with a myriad of praises from her peers. Set on an imaginary Caribbean island, Monique unfolds a tantalising tale in a mythical love story between a fisherman and a mermaid. “Sensuous, beguiling,” says The Sunday Times. “Roffey's tale convincingly transplants a mythical creature into a modern setting .”
Monique teaches creative writing both in Port of Spain and at Manchester Metropolitan University. She describes herself as something of a magical realist. Writers Rebel, which she helped found, is an associated group to the highly effective and disruptive Extinction Rebellion. She is a leading literary voice on climate change and against the continuing use of fossil fuels. “For half a century scientists have warned about global heating,” she has written, “and for half a century they have been largely ignored, in large part because the fossil fuel lobby has pumped vast sums of money into stories calling climate science into question.”
Join Monique Roffey with Humphrey Hawksley for Goldster Inside Story at to discuss writing, global warming and love on a magical imaginary Caribbean island.
To watch the recording of this episode please click here
Breaking the Maafa Chain takes the reader back to the nineteenth century. Two sisters, Fatmata and Salimatu, are captured and sold separately into slavery. Forced to change their names to Faith and Sarah, they end up in two different countries with opposite slavery laws. Faith ends up in America, where slavery is still legal and slaves don't have any rights; Sarah ends up in a Victorian England and as the goddaughter of Queen Victoria. Can the two sisters reclaim their freedom and identity in a world that is trying to break them down and mould them to its coloniser's will?
Based on the true story of Sarah Forbes Bonetta, Breaking the Maafa Chain will take you on a journey of loss, survival, hope, identity and tradition. Join the author of this acclaimed debut novel on 24 March, when Anni Domingo will be chatting to Lucinda Hawksley about her writing, her career in the theatre, and the story behind this fascinating book.
To watch the recording of this episode please click here
In this special hybrid PPG, Humphrey Hawksley will be joined by his fellow presenter – and very distant cousin! – Lucinda Hawksley. He’ll be interviewing Lucinda about the difficulties she faced when researching her biography, The Mystery of Princess Louise (Vintage Books).
As an art historian, Lucinda was interested in Princess Louise as a sculptor and part of the Aesthetic art world of late 19th-century London, but it soon became apparent that this was going to be a very different research journey from that of her two previous biographies (of the artists Lizzie Siddal and Kate Perugini). Many months after applying to research at the Royal Archives, Lucinda finally received a response stating “Princess Louise’s files are closed to researchers”. She soon discovered that many other avenues had also been closed off. She persevered – meaning her 3-year book deadline had to stretch into 6 years – and became truly fascinated by the woman she discovered behind the royal façade.
Humphrey will also be talking to Lucinda about what it is like to research and write about her great great great grandfather Charles Dickens – and what surprises can ensue when writing about members of one’s own family.
To watch the recording of this episode please click here
Natalie Jenner is the internationally bestselling author of The Jane Austen Society and Bloomsbury Girls, which were both instant national bestsellers, Amazon Best Books of the Month, and People Magazine Books of the Week.
The Jane Austen Society has now been published in more than twenty languages and has been optioned for film and television. Natalie's third novel, Every Time We Say Goodbye, is scheduled for release in early 2024.
Natalie was born in England and raised in Canada. She has been a corporate lawyer and career coach, and once owned an independent bookstore in Oakville, Ontario, where she lives with her family and two rescue dogs.
To watch the recording of this episode please click here
Robin Dreeke is a people person. He knows how to judge, win over, recruit and build relationships that are less transactional and more collaborative. For many years he worked for America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation, better known as the FBI and became head of its elite Behavioral Analysis Program, a Counterintelligence Division tasked with uncovering threats within the United States. He has combined law enforcement systems with his own techniques to build a tool-kit for networking and communication that show you how to win the day whether you are in a corporate board meeting or untangling thorny issues on the committee of the village flower show.
His books include Sizing People Up, The Code of Trust and It’s Not All About Me which lays out ten steps for building quick rapport with anyone. He will tell us about his understanding of human nature. Robin Dreeke will tell of the moment of crisis when he had no idea how long-standing colleagues around him would react. Would they run, hide, help? And how people kept much of themselves private, hiding steely courage until they really needed to show it. Or the opposite. Each of us has a myriad of relationships and, in conversation with Humphrey Hawksley, Robin Dreeke will show how he uses his FBI experience to help predict and adjust to other people’s behavior and give us all an essential course in how best to get out there, meet people, socialize and – what the Americans call – network.
To watch the recording of this episodeplease click here
Philip Clark is an author and music journalist who spent twenty years writing about classical music, modern composition, jazz, free improvisation and rock music for many leading publications, including The Wire, Gramophone, The Guardian and London Review of Books.
He trained as a composer (and in that capacity worked with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the percussionist Orphy Robinson), but has more recently preferred to produce his own sounds playing piano as part of a weekly free improvisation workshop.
His biography of Dave Brubeck – A Life In Time – was published in 2020, and he worked with legendary guitarist of The Kinks, Dave Davies, on his autobiography, Living On A Thin Line, published in 2022. Philip is currently writing Sound and The City – due for publication in 2024 – a history of the sound of New York City. He was co-winner of the 2021 Eccles Centre and Hay Festival Writers Award, which gave him a year-long writer’s residency at the British Library.
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Goldster Inside Story is thrilled to welcome back former American naval interrogator Lena Sisco with her new book Honest Answers: Interview and Negotiation Skills to Get the Truth. No matter the conversation, whether with friends, family, the community or colleagues, cementing trust, detecting honesty and persuading others, to be honest are some of the most valuable skills you can possess. Goldster is passionate about coaxing people to interact and socialise, thus contributing to their healthy living.
It is important not to feel unheard and to have the confidence to ask questions and for yourself to be an engaging conversationalist. Lena honed her skills within the hard, high-stakes military environment during the War on Terror. She now transfers them to our everyday lives and offers a five-step program on human interaction. In any situation, when you gain someone’s trust, you can get the truth. Lena teaches how to create an environment of trust; control the signals that you might be inadvertently sending to others on confidence, high-handedness, friendliness and so on; use the right words in a disagreement in order to create a win-win situation. By learning some of this, you can stay in control of the conversations you have and your relationship with others.
To watch the recording of this episode then please click here
Last October we interviewed our own PPG Presenter, the world-renowned explorer Rosie Stancer, as she introduced her plans to cross the Sinai desert to gather scientific evidence on the depredation of climate change on the lives of the Bedu nomads of the Sinai Peninsula and her intention to report to the COP 26 Conference at the end of their 160 mile journey. (see map below of their proposed camel trek).
Unfortunate security concerns in Egypt prevented the expedition from going at their chosen time – but the good news is that the wait is over, the trip is on again, and Rosie and her formidable team will be setting off on 15th Feb for their adventure.
Besides Rosie Stancer , herself a veteran of record breaking journeys to both the North and South Poles, , her latest expedition a crossing of the dried up Aral Sea, brings experience and leadership, the team also consists of her deputy, Pom Oliver, a veteran herself of many Arctic and Antarctic journeys, and another member of the Aral Sea expedition importantly gathering physiological data on human destruction of water systems.. Arabella Dorman, a war artist. will be recording another conflict now facing humanity - the dangers and effects of climate change. In her paintings she will record not only landscape but also the effects on the lives of those nomads coming to terms with a changing environment, and, last but very much not least, the redoubtable Lee Watts whose title on the expedition, Communications and Medic, belies the serious all round responsibility for the safety of his companions and the effectualness of the expedition. A former paratrooper, he is a veteran of war, a trainer and instructor and a bible of first aid. On retirement from the armed forces he established his own Gym, where he has been exercising his fellow travellers.
Goldster will be monitoring the expedition throughout, keeping daily track of the journey and – put it in your diaries – on 28th February Humphrey Hawksley will interview the team at the isolated St Catherine’s Monastery in the middle of the desert., a third of the way through their desert crossing.
On Tuesday 14th February, a day before Rosie leaves for Egypt, Lucinda will interview her on PPG. As the adventure begins she will ask how Rosie is feeling, how has she overcome the disappointment and delays, what is she is looking forward to now, and what does she fear …
Goldster Inside Story gives you a story of love, spies and parenting with a rare double-act interview and a ground-breaking book for frazzled families -- License to Parent: How My Career as a Spy Helped Me Raise Resourceful, Self-Sufficient Kids. Christina and Ryan Hillsberg both spied for America’s Central Intelligence Agency before Christina turned her skills to becoming a stay-at-home-mom sharing fresh, ingenious and fascinating secrets on child-rearing, and putting an insightful and entertaining spin on some of the most challenging years of our lives. In conversation with Humphrey Hawksley, the Hillsbergs will explain their CIA day jobs. As a covert operative, Ryan recruited spies and stole secrets around the world, collecting crucial information on terrorism, security and the many threats to our everyday lives.
Christine did similar work, often in Africa, while also writing analytical assessments for the President and senior policy makers. How exactly do those skills – torn straight from the scenes of an action-packed spy movie – transfer to the hum drum day-to-day world of good parenting. The aim, say the Hillsbergs, is to raise children who are confident, reassured and know how to stay safe. And, we will learn, James Bond, was an absolutely terrible spy. “If a spy has to pull out his gun or someone is chasing him, he’s done something very wrong!” And don’t even get her started on the Bond girls!
To watch the recording of this episode then please click here
Katherine May is an internationally bestselling author and podcaster living in Whitstable, UK. Her hybrid memoir Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times became a New York Times, Sunday Times and Der Spiegel bestseller. It was also was adapted for BBC Radio 4’s Book of the Week, and was shortlisted for the Porchlight and Barnes and Noble Book of the Year.
The Electricity of Every Living Thing, her memoir of a midlife autism diagnosis, is currently being adapted as an audio drama by Audible. Her other titles include novels such as The Whitstable High Tide Swimming Club, and The Best, Most Awful Job, an anthology of essays about motherhood which she edited. Her journalism and essays have appeared in a range of publications including The New York Times, The Observer and Aeon.
Katherine lives with her husband, son, two cats and a dog. She loves walking, sea-swimming and pickling slightly unappealing things. On 8 December, Katherine will be chatting to Lucinda Hawksley about her writing career and the importance of ‘wintering’.
To watch the original recording, then please click here
Gregg Hurwitz is the New York Times bestselling author and creator of the Orphan X series -- Evan Smoak is a man with a dangerous past who has skills, resources, and a personal mission to help those with nowhere else to turn. Gregg has also published poetry, academic, political, and cultural articles, screenplays and is a bestselling comic book writer. In short, Gregg is a non-stop creative machine and even helped write the opening ceremony of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. He has a reputation for dogged research leading to action-packed adventures, including sneaking onto demolition ranges with Navy SEALS, swimming with sharks, and going undercover into mind control cults. Even his recreational pursuits seem bigger than life: wrestling with his Rhodesian ridgebacks, doing hot yoga, and drinking bourbon. He is also a political activist, working hard to lessen the current polarization in politics and culture.
To that end, he's produced several hundred commercials which have had more than a hundred million views on digital and television platforms and won multiple American Advertising Awards. His editorial pieces have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Huffington Post, and others. All of that said, Gregg describes his day-to-day life as hum drum. “I wake up, have coffee, go into my office, and write all day.” His new Orphan X thriller The Last Orphan is out in February 2023.
Live at Riverstone Cinema, Fulham at 12pm on February 9th 2023.
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Laura Payne began her career as a journalist and has a background in international media and marketing. She has advised and mentored some of the world’s leading businesses and organisations – and then, in her 50s, she decided to change her life and career. She made the decision to go back into academia and train as a psychotherapist.
Her book Nine Steps to a Mindful Life (Without Meditating) grew out of her new way of life. The book contains simple exercises with which Laura believes you can turn your life around. It is for anyone looking for a fresh approach, and for all those seeking a sense of calm and empowerment.
Whether you are tired, anxious, stressed or just looking to explore a new ‘you’, Nine Steps to a Mindful Life (Without Meditating) will give you insights into how to achieve personal transformation. Join Lucinda Hawksley on 2 February, as she talks to Laura about mindfulness, dream therapy and how Goldster members can enrich their life with her strategies.
http://www.laurapayne.co.uk/ To watch the recording of this episode, please click here
Animal-lover Gillian Carrick is the author health guides for pets which includes tips for their healthy ageing. Gillian’s early career took her far away from her passion. With a degree in politics, she became a researcher in the House of Commons and a feature writer on the House magazine. She then moved to BBC Radio with stints as a producer/presenter of travel programmes for Radio Four and Five Live, before heading off to be a television producer. Gillian’s first books were Hidden Suffolk and The Essential Guide to Arthritis.
She was then commissioned to write a series of animal-health guides, including: My Dog Has Arthritis but lives life to the full; My Cat Has Arthritis but lives to the full and My Dog Has Epilepsy but lives life to the full - clearly there’s a theme developing here. Gillian spends as much time as she can in the company of gorgeous dogs and cats, not necessarily her own. She describes herself as a pert-butler of sorts and has learned a very important lesson: Our four-legged friends are definitely our masters. Her latest project is to explore the idea of releasing our ‘inner cat’. What exactly is that?
There’s nowhere quite like Piccadilly Circus. From the moment they emerge, blinking from the underground station, visitors to Piccadilly Circus face a sensory onslaught. Its streets and alleyways merge into an intoxicating thoroughfare, with the power to propel an individual onwards to adventure, romance, or something more sinister. Ever since its iconic Eros statue appeared in 1893, the junction has been a vibrant meeting place, attracting visitors and pleasure-seekers from all walks of life: political plans and theatrical careers were hatched at its restaurant and café tables, lovers met below the statue of Eros, and to this day tourists pour out of its historic Tube to experience the bright lights of London’s nightlife.
Piccadilly explores how the area has been shaped by social and historical events – from female suffrage to world wars to technological advancements – and by its colourful cast of characters – from flower girls, shop assistants and sex workers, to film stars, Bright Young Things and conmen (and women).
For many, the Circus has represented both a home from home and a brave new world, as campaigners, revellers, opportunists and romantics have all been drawn to Piccadilly’s bright lights. Join Lucinda Hawksley on 12 January, as she chats to fellow author Midge Gillies about why the story of why Piccadilly Circus continues to mean so much to so many.
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What do Erotica and Sherlock Holmes have in common? Find out in Goldster’s amazing end of year Inside Story with the legendary Maxim Jakubowski, the mastermind of The Mammoth Book of Erotica, the creator of The Return of Sherlock Holmes, the compiler of numerous anthologies and currently chair of the Crime Writers’ Association with its Red Herrings magazine and array of Dagger awards. And that is far from all in Maxim Jakubowski’s incredible career. For many years he was a top book publishing editor dealing with titles by authors as diverse as William Golding, Peter Ustinov and Sophie Grigson.
He also owned the Murder One Bookshop for twenty years, ran the Crime Scene film and literary festival, edited Sex in the City, has been a columnist for Time Out and the Guardian and next year will be the executive producer on the TV series Factory based on the novels of his late friend Derek Raymond.
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Henrietta Heald is the author of Magician of the North, a biography of William Armstrong, the dazzling Victorian inventor, engineer and industrialist who created Cragside in Northumberland, the first house in the world to be lit by hydroelectricity. The book was shortlisted for two literary prizes and, since first publication in 2010, has generated huge interest in Armstrong, with Henrietta making many appearances on TV and radio and in various publications to elucidate his life and work. Earlier this year, she appeared in ‘Diggers’, an episode of BBC2’s Inside the Factory, when she was interviewed about Armstrong’s invention of the hydraulic crane.
Henrietta’s most recent book is Magnificent Women and Their Revolutionary Machines, about the extraordinary and inspiring individuals who set up the Women’s Engineering Society a century ago. She argues that the achievements of the women engineers amounts to a vibrant ‘wave’ of feminism that until now has eluded the attention of historians.
Before taking up the pen herself, Henrietta had a long and successful career in book publishing. She was chief editor of Chronicle of Britain and Ireland and the Reader’s Digest Illustrated Guide to Britain’s Coast. Her other books include Coastal Living, La Vie est Belle, Blue & White At Home and a National Trust guide to Cragside. A graduate in English from Durham University, she has become a campaigner on behalf of women engineers and the regeneration of local heritage in northeast England. Join Henrietta as she chats to Lucinda Hawksley, at 12pm on 5th May, on the Goldster Inside Story.
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Professor Sir Muir Gray is reframing the public conversation about getting old. He is the co-author of two hilarious but insightful books aptly named Sod 60 and Sod 70, both subtitled, The Guide to Living Well. . His other books include Midlife: Look Younger, Live Longer, Feel Better, Antidote to Ageing and Sod Sitting, Get Moving!: Getting Active in Your 60s, 70s and Beyond. No spring chicken himself, Sir Muir identified elements of the ageing process way back in 1985 when, as a younger man, he wrote his perceptive book Prevention of Disease in Old Age. Whether dealing with dementia, apathy or physical frailty, Sir Muir’s initial prescription is good diet, mental stimulation and exercise. This is also the mantra underpinning everything Goldster stands for. How is it, Sir Muir asks, that we know ‘old’ sixty-year-olds and ‘spritely’ 80-year-olds? He has a Seventies Manifesto as a Call to Arms. Become more active, mentally and physically, get more involved; help other people more and you will succeed in gaining better health. And get ‘attitude’ which means, not only are you positive, but also you know what you want and people shouldn’t mess with you.
Sir Muir guarantees to bring us a fun and challenging Goldster Inside Story. Question him, comment on his thoughts, share your own experiences with Sir Muir Gray and your Goldster host Humphrey Hawksley at noon on 22nd December.
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We have a very special Goldster Book Club event to welcome in the new year. Lucinda Hawksley will be chatting online to Joanne Harris, the award-winning author of 19 novels, including Chocolat, Blackberry Wine and The Strawberry Thief. Her novels also include four psychological thrillers, including Gentlemen & Players and Different Class. Chocolat was turned into an Oscar-nominated movie, starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp.
Joanne was born to a French mother and an English father, and in addition to having written several novels set in France, she has also written books on French cookery, including – of course! – a book on cooking with chocolate. Her latest books include the enchanting "mosaic novel" Honeycomb and a non-fiction book, perfect for all aspiring writers: Ten Things About Writing. She has also written novellas (including one about Doctor Who), short stories, screenplays, game scripts, libretti for two short operas, and a musical. Joanne is also a passionate advocate for authors’ rights, and is currently the Chair of the Society of Authors (SOA) and a member of the Board of the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS).
Join Joanne Harris as she chats to Goldster Book Club Presenter and fellow author Lucinda Hawksley.
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Damian Le Bas was brought up by Romany Traveller parents, who had lived a life of hardship and adventure on the road. Because his family had largely settled down by the time he was born, Damian always felt that he had missed out on a vital part of his culture. While he was working as a journalist defending Romany people and other Travellers, he realised that few people really saw ‘Gypsies’ as belonging on the cultural and geographical maps of Britain. So he decided to spend a year living in a Ford Transit van, staying in places with an historical attachment to Britain's nomadic peoples – the stopping places – and writing about his experiences alongside the history of ethnic Travellers and snippets of his own family story. The result was his first book, The Stopping Places: a Journey Through Gypsy Britain. It mixes aspects of travel writing, memoir, folk history and nature writing and, in addition to winning several awards, was a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week.
Damian Le Bas is a former editor of Travellers’ Times magazine. In 2019 he presented the documentary A Very British History: Romany Gypsies on BBC4 and has been a consultant on various TV programmes, mostly translating into the Romani language. When he is not writing Damian is a keen hill walker, scuba diver, outdoor swimmer and sitter in coffee shops.
His next book is due to be published by Chatto & Windus in 2023.
To watch the recording of this episode please click here
Dr Parag Khanna is a bestselling author of books that explain where our world is heading and why. Parag, who has been named by Esquire magazine as one of the 75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century, will be talking to Humphrey about his latest book Move: The Forces Uprooting Us. It’s a thought-provoking eye-opener that cuts through the clutter and predicts what lies ahead for our children and grandchildren. In short, as climate change tips toward full-blown crisis, economies collapse, governments destabilize, and technology disrupts, we’re entering a new age of mass migrations – one that will scatter both the dispossessed and the well-off.
Which areas will people abandon and where will they resettle? Which countries will accept or reject them? As today’s world population, which includes four billion restless youths, votes with its feet, what map of human geography will emerge? Parag is a total man of the world. He was born in India and grew up in the United Arab Emirates, the United States of America and Germany. He earned his doctorate at the London School of Economics and his degree at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., which is where his love of maps and the changing world really took root. His previous books include How to Run the World (2011), Connectography (2016), and The Future is Asian (2019). Join Humphrey with Parag at 12.00 UK time on November 18th for a fascinating insight into our future.
To watch the recording of the show click here
Elly Griffiths wrote four novels under her own name (Domenica de Rosa) before turning to crime with The Crossing Places. This was her first novel featuring forensic archaeologist Dr Ruth Galloway – since then her name has entered into the elite of fictional detectives, with The Times commenting “Galloway now seems as real as Marple and Morse’.
The Crossing Places won the Mary Higgins Clark award and several novels in the series have been shortlisted for the Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year. The 14th novel in the series, The Locked Room, was published in February 2022 and Elly is currently writing the 15th book.
Elly also writes the Brighton Mysteries, a series set in the theatrical world of the 1950s and 1960s. The 6th book, The Midnight Hour came out in 2021 and the 7th is waiting in the wings, to be published soon. In 2020, Elly wrote what was described as a “standalone” mystery, The Stranger Diaries. It won the Edgar award for Best Crime Novel – and her detective, Harbinder Kaur, was so popular, that it became another series. The third book, Bleeding Heart Yard, is being published on 29 September.
In 2016 Elly was awarded the CWA Dagger in the Library for her body of work – and she prolifically keeps producing new novels every year. Elly was one of our first Inside Story authors on Goldster and we are thrilled to invite her back on the eve of Agatha Christie’s birthday, to talk about her writing career and what it was like to be chosen as one of the special few authors asked to write a brand new Miss Marple story.
To watch the filming of the recording, please click here
Join Humphrey Hawksley with Maggy Piggot on this uplifting Goldster Inside Story
Maggy Pigott is the vice-chair of Open Age, Life’s Just Begun and has published the critically-acclaimed How to Age Joyfully, Eight Steps to a Happier, Fuller Life. Dame Judi Dench commends the book to everyone of all ages and Giles Brandreth describes it as ‘full of wit, wisdom – and hope’. Here are Maggy’s nub thoughts. We’re living longer – let’s live better! Getting older should be something to enjoy and celebrate. And it can be. Research shows that we can make a big difference to how well we age. From staying active to connecting with others, Maggy shares the secrets to ageing well in eight steps, to help keep you healthy and happy. Each step has easy-to-follow tips, alongside inspiring words both ancient and modern… and more! The guidance includes keeping physically active, eating well, having purpose and being positive.
There are stunning quotes such as from Theodore Roosevelt – ‘Old age is like everything else… to make a success of it, you’ve got to start young’ to Mahatma Gandhi ‘The future depends on what you do today.’ Maggy also cites peer group leaders such as Sir David Attenborough travelling the world making natural history films in his nineties Dame Judi Dench and David Hockney both still working in their eighties, and of course Her Majesty the Queen. Whether you choose to follow some of the advice or all, this is the perfect guide for living a more fulfilled, healthy and joyful life.
To watch the filming of the recording, please click here
Join Lucinda Hawksley as she chats with Adele Parks about her amazing writing career.
Adele Parks MBE was born in North Yorkshire and has become one of Britain’s best-loved novelists. She is the author of 22 bestselling novels, including the Sunday Times and eBook Number One bestseller, Both Of You.
Over four and a half million UK editions of Adele’s work have been sold, and her books have been translated into 31 different languages. Her recent Sunday Times Number One bestsellers, Lies Lies Lies and Just My Luck were shortlisted for the British Book Awards and have been optioned for development for TV.
Adele is an ambassador of the National Literacy Trust and the Reading Agency: two charities that promote literacy in the UK. She has lived in Botswana, in Italy and in London and is now settled in Guildford, Surrey. In 2022 she was awarded an MBE for services to literature.
To watch the filming of the recording, please click here
Join Humphrey Hawksley to hear Leonid Volkov’s story in his own words and ask him how he thinks he can create a new Russia.
Born into Soviet Jewish intelligentsia, leading Russian opposition figure, Leonid Volkov, is now in exile in Lithuania. Through lawyers, he liaises with his jailed friend Alexei Navalny who is serving nine years in a maximum-security Russian prison. Both became Internet bloggers with massive followings, Leonid was Navalny’s chief-of-staff for his Moscow mayoral campaign in 2013 and his presidential campaign against Vladimir Putin in 2018. From exile and prison, the two friends and others are preparing for Putin’s fall and the creation of a modern, more peaceful Russia.
“I do strongly believe that one day Russia will become a free and democratic country, a part of European family, where it belongs by its whole culture and history,” he says. In a rare and very special Goldster Purpose, Passion and Grit, Leonid will tell Humphrey Hawksley about his childhood at a time when Russia was warming toward the West. His parents are in academia in western Russia. Leonid will recount how he used the Internet to muster political support in the tens of millions, then how the iron fist of Russian state smashed down arresting Alexei Navalny and forcing him into exile. It is an incredible story, not yet ended, of how one man musters the purpose, passion, grit and courage to keep struggling for what he believes in.
On the Goldster Book Club podcast you hear captivating interviews with best-selling authors, intrepid explorers, former spies and international sports people. We have different shows – Inside Story, Purpose, Passion and Grit, and Author to Author. By joining Goldster you can be part of the live conversation asking our guests directly any question you want -- about their failures, successes and what drives them. So far we have talked to best-selling authors, Ian Rankin, Ely Griffiths and Adele Parks; acclaimed historians, adventurers and travel writers Roger Morehouse, Justin Marozzi and Odd Harald Hague; eagle-eyed commentators, Parag Khanna, Tim Marshall and Geoff Payne; The list goes on.
You don’t have to have the read the book or know the subject. Goldster presenters will draw you into their world and make you feel at home; Biographer and descendant of Charles Dickens, Lucinda Hawksley; Journalist, thriller writer and Lucinda’s distant cousin, Humphrey Hawksley; Polar explorer Rosie Stancer; and international cricketer and rugby player, Alistair Hignell. We would love to meet you. Goldster is barely two years old, and we’re booming.
Come join in the Goldster Book Club conversation.
www.Goldster.co.uk/book-club